Easy Money
by suckerrrrr
Summary: Riku took the job for the benefits. An easy slide through college loans. He didn't plan on "the boy" stealing his heart. Axel was a party animal. One night stands were his forte... So what happens when someone gets attached? YAOI. Riku/Sora & Axel/Roxas
1. The Boy

Yay, here you guys go. Summer, so hopefully this one'll be better than our last one...

This idea's been in our head for a few weeks now but eh, by now y'all should all know our motivation issues.  
Anyway, enjoy and review! :D

Disclaimer: I hate doing this :( ...it makes us sad inside. Do you really think if we owned anyone from KH that we'd be writing this? And by the way, I didn't get this for my birthday. Thanks...

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**EASY MONEY**

"I'm hoping that this is an easy job for you, but I'm not gonna make promises," the woman said, waving her hand to flip the bottom of her hair over her shoulder. "He can be a bit of a handful sometimes."

"He has a specific bedtime, which is 8 and do not let him skip his homework, that is completed as soon as he comes home from school," a man said, tightening his tie while leaning into the doorway to jump into the conversation.

"Yes dear, I was getting there, please finish getting ready. It is unusual for me to be done first," she said with a giggle. "If you follow me over to the kitchen, I can show you what I have set aside for his dinner… Oh, you can cook, right?" The other person nodded their head in agreement and she promptly continued. "Okay, well I just make some macaroni and cheese with some sort of vegetable. The only one he seems to like is green beans and if that boy tries to tell you to let him watch TV, DON'T. He is _not_ allowed to until all the food is gone, and please keep his food in proportions. I don't want the boy to get fat. That means no snacks, no seconds, and definitely no desserts. We do have _some_ sweets in the fridge, but he knows they're mommy and daddy's, although you're allowed to one if you please." To emphasis her point, she held up one finger while slightly waving it back and forth.

"Dear? Dear? Where are you...? Oh well, let's go, I'm ready."

A small head was peaking over the stairs with small little spikes protruding in the air. He had his head out enough just to see the commotion going on down stairs. Noticing a new glow being reflected from the lights in the house, the little boy scooted down a few steps, a tall figure with long silver hair catching his eye.

"We don't know when we'll be back from dinner, but hopefully not too late, probably around 2 or 3. There's a spare room we have prepared for you, my husband and I will probably be too exhausted to take him to school in the morning. That's also your job here, to make sure he gets to school on time. Make him some eggs or something for breakfast with a glass of milk. I want the boy to keep up his strength. He should know the drill by now. I've already told you where to pick him up from school. It's right by your college, so I'm assuming that won't be a problem, especially since we're providing you room and board _and_ payment for taking care of our son."

"Honey, come on, we're going to be late. I don't want them talking at the office," the man said impatiently. "The car's already out front and I don't want to keep the driver waiting any longer."

"Yes dear," the woman sighed, turning on her heel towards the door. "The boy should be coming down soon from his bath," she called over her shoulder. Out of nowhere, a small hand grabbed the hem of her dress, stopping her movements.

"Mommy… Where are you and daddy going?"

"Out sweetie," she whispered ruffling her hand through his hair. "Mommy and daddy will be home before you know it," a smile cracking her face.

"Really?" He asked while his eyes widened.

"Yes sweetie."

"But… but… Who is that pretty girl with long hair?"

Fingers already slipping out of his hair, her gaze was already back on the silver haired figure. "Oh yes," she called out. "I forgot to mention to put his pull ups on before he goes to sleep. He tends to wet the bed when mommy and daddy are out."

Watching his parents finally walk out the door, the little boy heard steps coming closer and closer to him. He quickly turned around, a deep rose color spreading across his cheeks.

"Hey there kiddo!" A kind voice came from above. Looking up, the little boy watched the figure kneel down to his level. "What's your name?" He said with a smile.

"S-S-Sora." The older boys smile widened at the stuttering boy, his hand quickly finding its way to the boys uncontrollable hair.

"Well Sora, I'm Riku. From the looks of it, we'll be spending a lot of time together! Now how about some dinner?" Scooping Sora up into his arms, he carried him into the kitchen and placed him into the barstool across from the stove.

"I've never met a girl named Riku before!" Sora said, much more comfortable around his caretaker after only a few minutes. "Actually, I've never met anyone named Riku before."

"Well Sora… That's definitely because I'm not female," Riku said with an amused smirk on his face.

"Huh?"

"Female as in not like your mom." Scratching the back of his head, Riku wondered if he was wording this the right way.

"I know you're not like my mommy!" A large grin spreading across his face. "You're so much prettier than she is!"

Seeming to suddenly choke on air, Riku began coughing. "Well Sora, I'm still not a girl. I'm a boy. Like you."

"What?"

"Let's just say… we have the same downstairs mix-up." With a furrowed brow, Sora glanced down at his lap, then back up at Riku, then back down at his lap one more time, obvious confusion on his face. "Just… Let me grab your plate."

"Okay!" Sora smiled, hopping down off the barstool and making his way towards the table. After a few minutes, Riku walked over to the table, setting Sora's food down in front of him before taking his place to Sora's left.

"You know, you don't have to eat with me…" Sora said shyly, poking his food around with his fork.

"Why wouldn't I?" Riku questioned.

"Mommy and daddy don't. They eat in the other room. They say I'm not old enough to eat with them yet." Sora said finally taking a bite of his meal.

"Aw, that doesn't seem fair. How old are you?"

"I just turned 12 like 3 days ago!" The boy said smiling proudly, holding up all five fingers on both hands. "I'm almost a big kid now! But my mommy wouldn't let me have a birthday party this year… She says I'm too old for that now, but not old enough to eat with them," his smile quickly being replaced with a frown. However, before Riku could say anything, Sora's smile picked back up. "How old are you Riku!?"

"Oh, me? I'm 19. Almost 20."

"Wow! You've been in the double digits for awhile! Oh man, I wish I was as old you are Riku!" Riku loved the smile on Sora's face as he watched him go on and on about when he got to be that old. Out of habit, Riku turned to look at the clock.

"Shit! I mean shoot! It's 8:15! I gotta get you to bed Sora, you're parents are gonna flip on me! I do not need that on my first night!"

"Don't worry Riku," Sora said, standing up and grabbing Riku's hand. Dragging him up the stairs, he turned around and looked back at the older boy. "I usually don't fall asleep for a few more hours anyway." His hand still grasped in Sora's, he found himself being led through a maze of hallways. Each new turn seemed to be a repeat of the previous hall. Finally, they stopped in front of a door decorated with a sun and a cloud, Sora's name written across the center in big black letters. With a chuckle, Riku pushed the door open and walked inside the brightest room he'd ever seen. The walls were painted a bright sky blue with fluffy white clouds, the ceiling fan shaped like a sun. Clearly, Riku thought, this bedroom was decorated when Sora was younger… and hadn't changed one bit. When Sora turned around to face Riku, the walls of his room seemed to make his eyes shine brighter than Riku had seen all night.

"Aren't you gonna leave?" Sora questioned, pulling his pajamas out of a drawer.

"Oh, right. Sorry. I'll just uhh… go grab those pull ups… Where are they?"

"Hall closet," Sora whispered, a blush creeping across his face once more. Embarrassed for being 12 and still having to wear pull ups, he Looked down at his toes as he heard the door shut then reopen, a pull up being placed on his bed. Riku turned around while the younger boy changed and turned back around when he heard the rustling of sheets. Walking over to the bed, he began tucking Sora in, the red numbers "8:50" screaming at him from the corner of his eye.

"Okay Sora, looks like you got an extra hour out of tonight. This'll be our little secret, okay kiddo?" Riku said standing up and stepping away from the bed, only to get a wide grin out of Sora and an excited okay. "Try and get some sleep!" By now, Riku had flipped the light switch and was walking out the door. "Goodnight!" He whispered, slowly closing the door, leaving it open a crack.

Outside the door, Riku ran his fingers through his hair, sighing to himself. "This is the easiest way to make money. Free living and a cute kid." With a smile on his face, he made his way downstairs. On the other side of the door, Sora slowly muttered something to himself, his eyes gently closing before drifting in an early, content sleep for the first time in awhile.

"I hope daddy doesn't fire this one."

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REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW :D


	2. Instigation

Chapter 2! Hope this one's satisfying... We have so many good ideas . BE EXCITED.

Anyway. REVIEW! :D Yes?

Disclaimer: Do I really have to keep doing this? Not. Ours. :(

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_"CLICK"_

The noise that had previously awakened Riku time and time again, he made sure to eliminate for good. Riku rolled his head back to where it had previously molded its weight into. With a grunt, he squinted his eyes and rolled over again. It was becoming much more difficult to make himself comfortable. He opened his eyes at the bright red numbers, only to shoot himself up in an instant.

"Shit! 7:45! I have to get Sora at school by 8!" He sprinted up out of bed, not even correctly dressing himself, and scrambled down the halls of the house only to stop at a door with a cloud and a sun. He slammed the door open with a gasp. "SORA! GET U-p…" Riku stopped and looked at the room, shocked that there was only an empty bed and some clothes scattered on the floor. He gathered himself again and sprinted for the stairs, praying one of his parents hadn't wakened Sora before him. "Please God, I'd lose this job for sure." Skipping 2 steps at a time, Riku finally made it to the bottom, looking up, hands on his knees huffing for air.

"Riku?" the little brown haired boy asked, taking another bite of his cereal.

"Sora! Did your mom wake you up?! I'm so sorry! I overslept, this is early for what I'm used to," Riku continued to ramble making his way to where Sora sat, and as he came closer, Sora couldn't help it as his eyes seemed to skim Riku's body. Noticing his slightly messy silver strands fall delicately to his seemingly flawless skin, which stretched all over his tall, slender body. "Sora?"

"Ooh, don't worry Riku." He took another bite of his cereal to pull his gaze away, but just turned back with a sweet smile. "I'm used to being alone. You really don't have to worry."

"So you woke yourself up?" Riku asked, sighing at Sora's persistence.

"Mhm!" Sora said with a smile so big his eyes seemed to squint a little.

"Well, if I happen to sleep in again… which I won't, feel free to wake me up, so I don't have a heart attack right when I get up. 'Kay kiddo?"

"Okay, if you say so, but I'd be okay by myself really, you don't have to worry."

"Sora, it's my job to worry," he said ruffling his hand through his hair.

"Hey, I just brushed that!" Sora said, reaching for Riku's hand. Once Sora had grabbed his little digits on Riku's hand, he froze. His skin was soft. "Riku…?"

"Yeah?" Riku answered, kneeling down to Sora's level, his hand still upon Sora's head.

"It's almost time to go to school, are you gonna take me in your underwear?"

"Huh?" Riku looked down at his half dressed self, suddenly feeling the chill of the air. "Ha-ha, let me go get dressed then I'll take you." Riku jumped to his feet and sprinted up the stairs, skipping a few on the way. A small chuckle was left in the room as Sora gathered his school things and plopped his backpack on his shoulders.

"Okay Sora… let's go," Riku stated, practically hopping on one foot, putting his shoe on the other. Sora just giggled when Riku reached the bottom of the stairs and lifted his hand to Riku's. He smiled and grabbed the smaller hand in return, both turning and leaving the house with a _"CLICK"_ from the door locks enclosing them on the outside.

Thankfully for Riku, the walk to Sora's school was a short one. Although Riku had lived in the area for a year or so now, he hadn't really noticed how beautiful the city could be, but then again he didn't usually walk most places. The little boy latched onto his hand, grinning from ear to ear, probably had something to do with it as well. The rest of the walk went by quickly and most likely would have gone on longer if it weren't for Sora.

"Riku? We're here…" Riku snapped out of his gaze and realized he had almost dragged Sora past the school. Quickly running him up to the entrance, he kneeled down to Sora's level.

"Be a good boy, okay Sora? After today, I'll just be dropping you off and picking you up at the school gates. I'll see you at 2:45!" With a short hug and a ruffle of hair, Riku stood up and pushed the smaller boy through the doors before turning around and walking away.

Later that day, Riku was walking Sora back home from school. The trip was dragging on longer than it had seemed to earlier that day, and Riku wasn't quite sure what to say to the little brunette.

"So, how was your day at school?" Riku looked down after feeling a slight tug on his hand, deep blue eyes awaiting an answer.

"Oh, uh, tiring. Definitely tiring."

"Aw, I'm sorry Riku. I was gonna ask if you would help me with my homework, but you can take a nap instead. I know you were a little rushed this morning." Before Riku could say anything though, he was distracted by a jingle. He looked down to see little Sora pulling out his keys and then realized they were already at the house.

By the time homework had been finished and dinner had been served, it was time for Sora to go to bed. Making sure to get him upstairs in time tonight, Riku had Sora prepped and ready for bed in no time flat. Tucking him in, he whispered goodnight then turned around. Before shutting the door, a small voice made its way to his ears.

"Riku… Where are mommy and daddy?" Turning around, Riku saw concern in the small child's eyes.

"Mommy and daddy had to leave for a business trip earlier today. They're not gonna be here for awhile, so it'll be some bonding time for me and you!"

"But… they usually wait to tell me goodbye," Sora whispered, concern being replaced with sadness.

"It was urgent, I mean… I'm sure they wanted to but… It was last minute Sora, don't worry."

"How long this time?"

"Awhile, kiddo."

"NO!" Sora shouted, sitting up in his bed, grasping a handful of blanket. "How long this time Riku, tell me." Not being able to stand the sad look Sora was giving him, Riku sighed, looking down in defeat.

"I think they said 2 weeks. I'm sorry kiddo…" Riku returned his gaze to Sora, only to see Sora drowning his face in blankets, a few sobs escaping through the fabric. Walking to the side of the bed, Riku sat down next to Sora and gently began rubbing his back. Looking up with a tear stained face, Sora searched Riku's eyes for a sign of comfort. Suddenly feeling Riku engulf him in a hug, Sora began to talk, slurring his words with cries.

"Please Riku, please don't leave me too!" Pulling away, Riku looked down, using his large thumbs to slowly wipe away the tears pooling in Sora's eyes.

"Aw, chin up Sora. You're a big boy, remember? I thought you were used to being alone."

"I am!" Sora said, squeezing the hem of Riku's shirt, "But they usually at least say goodbye. They've never just left before!" Riku collected the little boy into his arms and began shushing him.

"Don't worry Sora… I won't leave until I know you're fast asleep." With a sniff, Sora complied and laid his head back down, holding onto Riku's hand. Within a few minutes, Sora's breathing had evened and Riku was able to slide his hand out of Sora's. Easing his way out of the door, Riku walked down the hall to his own room, exhausted.

"Damn… More effort into this than I expected. Maybe this won't be so easy after all."

Several days later, Riku got more and more into the routine of things with Sora. Some nights he would stay in Sora's bedroom till he feel asleep, while there would be others where Sora would just hug Riku goodnight and skip his way there all by himself. Everything seemed to feel more at home within the mansion for not only Riku, but Sora as well as he became a bit more active, _around Riku_.

"Riku, can you help me with this one too?" Sora pointed with his small finger to a problem on his homework, gathering the attention of the older teen, who slightly leaned over Sora to read over his shoulder.

"_Ring, ring!"_

"Sora, this one is exactly like the last one I just helped you with!" Riku said, lifting his chin from his resting place upon Sora's head.

"But I need help!" Sora pouted, lifting his head up toward Riku.

"_Ring, ring!"_

"Just try it real quick while I get that. Use the last problem as reference," Riku stated, getting up from his spot on the couch and walking towards the phone.

"Ri-ku!" Sora groaned with a final attempt to bring him back over to the sofa.

"_Ring, ring!"_

"Sora I'll help you in a second! …Hello?" Riku asked to the phone, then lifted his eyes to Sora, who was just staring at him with wide eyes, forcing him to retreat his gaze to the floor. "Oh hello, yes, how are you?" He began to the other side of the line. Riku seemed to have an intense look on his face as the listened. Sora twisted himself on the couch, waiting for Riku to look up at him and sure enough he did. "Oh, I see. No, that's very understandable." Riku barley grabbed a glimpse of Sora's plump lips whispering his name. Riku just gulped and turned away, having his back face Sora, who just giggled in return. "Really? Now why's that?" he stated, walking into the other room so he could concentrate more on his conversation, leaving Sora on the sofa, just to barley listen to the hum of Riku's voice through the hall. He only started to pretend he was halfway into his homework when he heard steps down the hall and Riku saying his goodbyes, "Well then, I guess we will see you later, yes, goodbye."

"Who was that?" Sora asked, waiting for Riku to return to his side after he hung up the phone.

"Oh, that was your parents."

"REALLY!? Are mommy and daddy coming home early?" he asked grabbing Riku's sleeves as he sat down.

"Uh… No, sorry kiddo. Your mom will be back as scheduled." He stated with a crooked smile, only to see Sora's once bright eyes slowly fall.

"Oh, but what about daddy?" he asked, lifting his eyes again with some little hope. Riku just put his hand on Sora's shoulder, causing him to look down once again.

"He will actually be gone a bit longer than he thought. He didn't say how long exactly, but hey, more time with me! Right kiddo?!" Riku said, leaning his head down to be in front of Sora's, forcing him to look up. "It's okay, really. I promise." Sora just lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile and wrapped his arms around Riku with a sniffle from his nose. Suddenly, they both felt a slight vibration escaping from Riku's pants. Riku pushed little Sora away for a second to dig around in his pocket. Pulling out his cell phone, he smiled at Sora giving him the "one second" finger while answering. A few seconds later Riku said his goodbye, placing his phone back into his pocket. "Alright Sora, let's go get you up and all tucked into bed."

"Who was that?"

"A… friend… I… I promised them I'd help… with something for school, but you know, I didn't want to leave you, so I told them they'd have to wait till I had you all situated," Riku said rubbing Sora's head.

"Oh! Really?" Sora asked lifting his brows.

"Yep." He grabbed Sora and lifted him by his waist off the sofa. "Now let's get you ready so I don't keep them waiting too long." They made there way up the stairs and followed their nightly routine and just as Riku was closing Sora's door to send him off to dream land, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Riku?" Riku pushed his head into the room to look at Sora's face slightly lit by his nightlight.

"Yeah kiddo?"

"What time are you gonna be back?"

"Uhh, like 10 or 11, okay? So don't worry." Riku smiled and took his head back outside the door, taking a few leaps to his room to get ready then leave for what Sora believed was his "study" party. Sora just rolled on his bed back and forth, finally stopping facing his clock. 8:10. He had to wait a long time.

"Hey man," Riku said, answering his cell after feeling it vibrate once more. "Yeah, I'm on my way to Axel's right now." He stopped right when he got to the front door. "Oh, you think so… Guess who called me earlier… Mhm, I'm _so_ getting laid tonight." Finally shutting the door Riku left into the night.

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You know what we're going to say... XD


	3. Alcohol Induced Intensions

We're on a rollll :D Review as usual... Seriously there's been a lack off lately :(  
Short chapter but TRUST US, completely satisfying!

Disclaimer: Fuck. This. We always have such a good night til we get to this part... :(

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1:27. He'd been waiting for 5 hours and 17 minutes and Riku still hadn't come home. Rolling onto his other side for what seemed to be the millionth time, Sora let out another sigh, tightly squeezing his eyes shut in hopes of maybe falling asleep. After a minute or two had passed however, Sora shot up in bed at the sound of a door being opened and closed. Crawling out from under the covers, he tip toed his way to the door, peeking his head out of the small opening.

"Riku!" An unknown voice giggled, their figure coming into view through the darkness.

"Shh! You gotta be quiet!" Sora immediately recognized the second voice to be Riku and was about to run into the hallway, but instead decided to hang back and see what was going on.

"Riku, hehe, Riku, tell me where we're going! Where are you taking me!?"

"Shhh, c'mon, shhh!"

"No Riku, you be shhh!" Sora cringed at the sound of the unknown voice calling Riku's name as two figures made their way further and further down the hallway. Seeing the tall silhouette of Riku, Sora began to grin, however that was quickly replaced when he saw a lanky girl clinging onto his arm.

"Shut up, you're so wasted!"

"Don't tell me to shut up Riku! You had more than I did!"

"Shut up! I know, but I'm not nearly as drunk as you! Now c'mon, my room's right here…" With that, he pulled open his door and dragged the girl in before flinging her on the bed. Quickly joining her, he didn't even bother to close the door. Pulling at the hem of his shirt, the girl began trying to rip it over his head with little success. As a last attempt, she pulled one more time before giving up and removing her own, hinting at Riku to do the same. After both the shirts had been thrown on the floor, hands began to roam and lips met. A few moments later, the girls lips moved from his own down to his neck, teething the crook between his shoulder and neck.

"Oh _shit_. Kairi!" Riku gasped for breath, only to receive a small giggle as the girl went back to "marking her territory" (a/n: she thinks :3).

"Riku?" A small voice echoed from the door throughout the room, causing Riku to open his eyes in shock before quickly shoving Kairi onto her back.

"Sora!? Why aren't you asleep!"

"Well you said you'd be home at 10 or 11, so I waited up and when you didn't come, I got worried."

"Riku!" An annoyed voice said, grabbing his arm to gain his attention.

Placing his hand on his head, the beginnings of a headache already noticeable, Riku looked up at Sora. "You should've just gone to bed, kiddo."

"Don't ignore me!" The girl said, shaking him once again.

"SHUT UP! Just shut up Kairi!" Turning his attention back to Sora, Riku looked down at the small boy once again. "Why didn't you just go to bed?"

"I couldn't… I couldn't sleep without you here…" Sora said, fidgeting his fingers, intertwining them with the bottom of his pajama top.

"Riight… Riku, get that spoiled boy out of here, _now_," Kairi hissed, pointing a long finger at Sora.

"Sora," Riku began, running his fingers through his hair. "Wait… What did you just say?" he barked, turning his attention to the red headed girl.

"He's obviously NOT that important. Get him out of here!"

"Yes, he's important!"

"Fine Riku!" the girl whined. "Him or me?"

"Okay _Kairi_… Get the FUCK out of MY house!" Riku yelled now, slamming his fist down on the nightstand next to the bed before pointing towards the door.

"What…?" She questioned, lifting her brows.

"You heard me. Get. The. FUCK. Out."

"Yeah, get out you wench!" Little Sora screamed, running into the room and grabbing Riku's arm.

Sliding her shirt back on and then grabbing her purse, Kairi stomped out of the room, but not before sending Riku one more bitchy look. "You will regret rejecting me Riku!" Riku just gave the girl a small chuckle, making her swish her hair and march her way out through the halls. He slid himself down on his bed, placing his head into the palms of his hands after a slam came for downstairs, reassuring the girl's presence was now gone. Sora jumped at the shake of the house due to how hard Kairi had slammed the door.

"Sora… God, I'm sorry." Riku seemed to muffle into his hands where his head still rested as he slowly started to lay down. His head hit the pillow with a thud, making him roll his hand to his forehead in an attempt to maybe magically make his headache disappear. Sora just stepped closer to the edge of the bed and watched Riku with intense eyes. He stood up on his tip toes and faced Riku, but Riku didn't notice because his eyes were squinted tight to block any form of light from reaching him.

"Riku, where does it hurt?" Sora asked, an obvious question to Riku, who just sighed at his concern.

"It's my head. It just hurts." He said as an immediate answer. Suddenly, Sora pulled himself up onto the bed and kneeled next to Riku and kissed his head right next to his hand, causing Riku to pop his eyes open in shock of what he had just done.

"Where else does it hurt?" Sora asked with a sincere smile, hoping his kisses would heal any wound that would be bothering Riku.

"Uhh… my nose…" Riku stated pointing his finger to the center of his face to test just how serious Sora was, and sure enough, Sora leaned down and placed a gentle peck on the tip of his nose. Riku just watched each little moment Sora did till he stood back up on his knees, looking Riku in the eyes once again.

"Anywhere else Riku?" Sora asked once again, placing a hand on his chest to balance himself, on the edge of Riku's bed.

"My… my lips." As if the passage of time slowed down, Riku watched Sora's body lean down farther and farther, closing the already small gap of space between them. Riku could just feel his mind spin in circles, whether it was from the alcohol or Sora's motives, he just felt weird. Riku looked at Sora's little features. He was so young and so innocent, unknown to the world and what was the cause of Riku's true pain. He knew Sora wouldn't know the after affects of alcohol, yet he wanted to believe so badly that Sora knew the situation. Riku was there when Sora took his side, pushing Kairi out of his house. Was Sora looking out for Riku in the long run? Why was he even awake this late? Riku couldn't even make his mind clear anymore, as he moved closer still. Sora had his eyes closed just inches away from Riku's face when his constant movement came to a halt. Riku had placed both his hands on Sora's little shoulders stopping him only centimeters away from their lips meeting. Sora's brows furrowed, causing him to open his eyes to discover the reason why he had stopped. He saw only the pale skin of his caretaker glistening under his shadow. He moved his eyes up to Riku's where Riku could clearly see the confusion and the sadness lingering in his eyes. Sora felt so insecure next to him for having such a lack of ability to comfort him like Riku had so many times before.

"Riku?… I thought you said… your lips hurt… I was just… trying to help." Sora stuttered out to make sure he was doing exactly what Riku said.

"They do." With a short simple sentence Riku just quickly mumbled out of his mouth, he pulled Sora the final bits of centimeters closer to himself, closing any air between them. The kiss went just as quickly as Riku had made it happen. He then scooted over in his bed, as if what had just happened was nothing, allowing Sora to climb in the bed right next to him. "C'mon Sora. Lay down. I'm too exhausted to take you to your room, so just lay down and go to sleep. It's already hours past your bed time and…" his rambling was cut short by a muffled grunt. He turned his head to see little Sora already asleep, cuddled up next to his left arm. Riku liked where Sora was headed and turned his head making him fall into an easy sleep, for now.

Awaking with a sudden jolt, Riku shifted his body up in is bed and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He had only been asleep for a few hours, but by the throb in his head, he could tell he came home out of it. Looking down at the small boy curled into his side, he couldn't help but smile. Out of everything that happened that night, the only thing that Riku could remember was leaving the house and coming home to a worried Sora. Chuckling to himself at how attached the two of them had gotten, he leaned down to place a kiss on Sora's forehead before attempting to go back to sleep himself. That's when it happened. As if a movie was being played before his eyes, the previous events from that night flooded his memory, specifically that of a kiss with a certain 12 year old child.

"What the FUCK happened?" Riku whispered angrily to himself. "Why the HELL did I say MY LIPS?! ...Why in God's name did I **KISS** **HIM**?!"

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We swear he's not that pervy! Just trust us, it'll get cute. Give it time, Sora blossoms.  
PS:Kairi's a bitch :3


	4. Be There or Be Square

Finally a new chapter :) We know it took awhile... We had issues.

_Demyx: Sora can't hear what I say on the other side of the phone :) He wishes he could... I'm a fucking blast.  
Brooke: Shut up Demyx... let them read.  
Alesia: You know what sounds delicious?  
Demyx:... What?  
Alesia: Cheese curds! You know, from a&w!  
Brooke: YEAH!  
Demyx: I'm lactose intolerant.  
Brooke: Beggers can't be choosers Dem-dem.  
Alesia: Sounds like a personal problem to me._

Disclaimer: I hate doing this!

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A sudden click from the doors brought Riku back to reality. His eyes blinked back from his daze at the television set back down to the clock, 5:53, then to the hall. He just stared there, waiting to see what or who made the doors click or if he had actually started losing it. Then a short, brown haired lady made her appearance with a gasp.

"OH! Riku… you gave me a fright."

"Oh, hello Mrs. Devane," Riku said, repeatedly blinking his eyes to make sure she was truly there. "Aren't you rather early? Compared to what I was told, at least."

"Call me Shirin, dear. Yes, I caught an earlier flight than expected. Why are you up?" she said finally making her way into the room from the hall way, dropping her things to the floor and kicking her heels off, then plopping down next to Riku to examine what he was watching on TV.

"Oh, if you insist Shirin, but me… I had trouble sleeping. Well, I'm glad your back home. How's your husband?" Riku asked, shifting his weight to sit properly on the sofa, feeling embarrassed from his previous situation on the sofa… legs propped up and spread across 3 cushions _and_ perhaps the armrest.

"Huh, thank you. He's content, he will be home soon enough… Oh, the boy isn't up, is he?" she said nonchantly, flipping her hair down from its proper bun.

"No… _Sora_ is asleep upstairs. He doesn't have to get up for, uhh, another hour." Riku's thoughts circled around the events of the day before and considered letting little Sora skip today, but now that his mom was home, he figured it was a bad idea. He just hoped Sora got enough sleep. His gaze began to drift back into the abyss of his mind as his eyes started to stare blankly at the television once again.

"So you couldn't sleep, huh?" Shirin said, turning her body to face Riku. She placed an arm on the top of the sofa and let her hand dangle down behind Riku.

"… Yeah…" Riku slowly slid his gaze to the corner of his eye to catch what it was exactly she was doing. She glided her hand up to twirl in Riku's long silver strands.

"You have nice hair."

"Uhh… thanks." Riku felt his muscles tense at her presence now, but only because he could swear she started moving closer and closer to him, slowly entering his personal bubble. Sure enough, he soon felt her breath on his neck, her hand still entangled in his hair. He froze. What was he to do? She was his employer, his boss, what was she doing, why was he considering the worst? Why… probably due to the first impression they left on him and their small son's inability to express himself around them or anyone else for that matter, but that was okay. In the last couple of weeks, Riku felt he had given Sora something he lacked, confidence and compassion, which seemed to be lacking in the rest of his family as well.

"It gets lonely in this house and I have nights where I can't even get a wink of sleep due to it. It's natural to want something… or someone," Riku's ears twitched at her hot breath slipping their words in and crawling all over his ears while still lingering on his skin. "Just remember, you're not alone… when I'm in town. And this way, I won't be either." She stood up and grabbed her things then gently slid her shoes on two fingers, then walked away. Not as much as a goodbye or a chuckle. She just disappeared into the halls of the house, her steps couldn't even be heard when she stood up. She was very good at what she did.

Kicking his leg out further onto the other side of the bed, an unfamiliar chill caused him to roll towards where his caretaker once rested. When he rolled once and did not find the warmth he was looking for, he kept rolling until soon enough he rolled one too many times, smacking the floor. Jerking his eyes open, Sora sat up and began rubbing the back of his head where it had made contact with the hard floor. He looked up at the bed and began searching for Riku and when he wasn't found, Sora stood up to glance at the clock. When he read the bright 6:32 flashing at him, he laid back down on the bed, tightly squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to get an extra 30 minutes before he had to get ready for school only to fail. Slowly, he began making his way down the stairs until he caught sight of Riku who seemed to be in his own world.

"Riku?"

"Huh?" Riku suddenly turned around to look at the boy. "Why are you up?" Riku searched the room quickly, looking for any evidence that Sora's mother was there.

"I woke up and you weren't there… and then I rolled off the bed." Jumping up off the couch and walking over to Sora, he kneeled down to his level laughing.

"Fell off the bed? What were you doing, kiddo?"

"I told you…" Sora mumbled. "Looking for you… I got cold…"

"Well, I'm right here, okay? I just woke up really early and couldn't get back to sleep. Didn't wanna wake you up!" Riku looked down at Sora, the smile on his face spreading throughout his entire face and into his eyes. "How about we run you a hot bath to start the day."

After getting Sora ready and sending him off to school, Riku stumbled into his first class, late as usual. Taking his seat at the back of the room, he shrugged his bag off his shoulders and slumped against the desk. Squinting to focus on the board, he soon found himself drifting to sleep.

"Riku?" A distant voice said. "Riku, man, wake up." A familiar hand began shaking his shoulder, causing him to wake up.

"Huh?"

"Dude… Class is over."

"I slept through calculus?! Again?!" Riku jumped out of his seat and began mumbling something about copying Demyx's notes again when he felt someone grip his shoulders.

"Are you okay? You've seemed out of it lately, especially today."

"You don't want to know what's going on."

"Try me. We've been best friends since we were what? 5? 6? I think I can handle any shit you get yourself into." With that, he turned around and walked off, but not before facing Riku once more and calling back to him. "Call me tonight. You know I'm here for you man." Riku gathered his things with a smirk reply back at Demyx, a silent thank you.

"DUDE!" A strangely high pitched voice came from across the room, making Riku shudder at the shrillness of it. "HEY man… Riku, GUESS WHAT?!" the tall red headed man asked, nudging Riku's shoulders over and over again.

"…W.H.A.T?"

"PAR-TAY… this weekend, my house!" Axel said with both his pointer fingers taking turns popping Riku's personal bubble. "BE THERE or BE SQUARE!" Taking his fingers now in a shape of an "L", he created a box around his face. "Huh, you going again… Right?!"

"Oh yeah Axel, I'll try…" Riku said rubbing his eyes.

"RIKU! What's up with you?" Axel's sudden good mood seemed to stop with his question. He brought out his seemingly serious voice. "You're acting… weird."

"You too?… Man you guys are worry warts. Ha-ha, I'm gonna get some lunch and head to work. I'll talk to you guys later." Suddenly, Riku caught a drift and was smiling again. He had _other_ things and people on his mind now.

"PARTY RIKU! BE THERE LOSER!" that shrill voice repeated again with a laugh, followed by another softer yell.

"CALL ME!"

"Dude, Demyx that sounded a bit gay…" Axel punched Demyx's arm.

"Oh, don't worry, you're still my pumpkin, Axel baby. RIKU, YOU BETTER CALL ME, BEAUTIFUL," a final shout was sent across the parking lot to their best friend, who with a chuckle shrugged his shoulders and waved a hand in the air.

"Alright, alright my plans now say 1. par-tay and 2. call my lover." Riku said.

"Reverse the order!" Demyx called after having Axel hit him for wanting to be first.

Riku's day seemed to fly by after he finally woke up. He got to Sora's school just in time to meet him at the gates. It wasn't long after the walk home had begun that Sora was running his mouth about his day. Soon however, Sora got on a subject that caught Riku's attention.

"Riku… What's a sleepover?" Sora questioned curiously.

"Uhh, where a friend stays at your house for the night. Why Sora?"

"Well, there was this girl in my class and she was talking about having a sleepover this weekend so I asked her what it was and she told me if I didn't know then I was just a loser 'cause that meant I didn't have any friends. I mean, I told her that you were my friend but she said you didn't count, so I just told her she was a wench and walked away."

"Sora, you know you should probably stop saying that."

"Saying what, Riku?"

"… Wench. Where did you even hear that?"

"My daddy calls my mommy that all the time!" Sora said with a cheeky smile.

"To her face!?" Riku was surprised that the boy had caught the habit from his father. From what he had seen, the man was a good role model for his son.

"Oh no… Only to me. He told me it was a secret," Sora kept smiling before a sudden look of shock took over his face. "RIKU, YOU CAN'T TELL ANYONE! IT'S A SECRET!"

"Okay, okay, calm down kiddo." Quickly trying to change the subject, Riku resorted back to their previous conversation. "So why don't you have your own sleepover? Was there someone you wanted to invite over?" Blushing, Sora looked up at Riku shyly.

"I was kind of hoping that maybe… me and you could have a sleepover…"

"Well _technically_ we have a sleepover everyday."

"NO Riku! A sleepover is on the weekend with sleeping bags in the same room and popcorn and movies and we stay up all night!"

"I thought you didn't know what sleepovers were…?" Riku said with a chuckle.

"So you don't wanna have a sleepover with me?" Looking down, Riku saw the sad look on the small boys face. Sighing, he gave in.

"Okay kiddo… This weekend me and you will have a sleepover. A _real_ sleepover, sleeping bags and popcorn and everything."

"Really!?" Jumping up and down, Sora began to giggle. "Don't worry Riku, it'll be so much fun and I promise you won't wake up feeling bad like you do when you hang out with your other friends!"

"Shit, I mean shoot! Axel's party!" Riku said and then mumbled to himself. "I'll figure something out later."

From the time Sora and Riku got home until later the evening, all of Sora's thoughts seemed to revolve around their sleepover this weekend. Even when it was time to go to bed, the little brunette's mind was still rotating around the thought of this weekend, coming up with different games to play. Laying in bed, Sora suddenly got a "great idea".

"We should play a board game!" Sora announced to himself. Jumping out of bed and rushing down the hall to Riku's room, Sora stopped himself at the cracked door. A small sliver of light was coming through the cracked door. Peeking an eye in the room, Sora saw Riku pacing back and forth on the phone, and began straining to hear.

"I don't know man, I kissed the kid the other night," Riku spoke into his phone. "I mean, I guess I was drunk."

"_What about Kairi? You __know__ she was all over you."_

"Yeah, I guess Kairi kind of wor--…"

"_Yeah, she had you going, huh?"_

"No! I wasn't thinking about her when I kissed him!"

"_Hey, chill out man, I'm just sayin'. Was she there when you kissed him?"_

"I don't think so, I remember kicking that bitch out…"

"_You kicked her out!? That bitch plays dirty, you might wanna make sure you watch your back."_

"Nah, she doesn't remember that part, or anything at all actually. I saw her the other day… I gave her a hug and a kiss on the check and then she bounced off with some other chick giggling."

"_Why'd you kick her out in the first place?"_

"That bitch fucking insulted the kid! She called him a spoiled brat! You haven't even met the kid and you know that's not true."

"_You picked the kid over a good lay…?"_

"I don't care if Kairi's a good lay or not, Sora's a good kid."

"_So you kissed him 'cause he's a 'good kid'?"_

"Yeah, shut up, I already told you I don't know why exactly!"

"_Maybe it was just a comfort kiss, ya know, like the kind you give your kid brother. I mean, you were drunk right? You might not remember exactly."_

"No, it wasn't like a brotherly kiss, it was like a _kiss_."

"_Dude, you were __drunk__, like COMPLETELY wasted, not to mention horny. Don't be so hard on yourself, how were you supposed to know?"_

"Demyx…" Riku sighed into the phone, "you can't get drunk enough to kiss a 10 year old kid and not mean it…"

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_Demyx: Brooke and Alesia get really upset when they don't get reviews. It's their motivation to do more than write... to LIVE._


	5. Author's Apology

I always get extremely pissed off when I get to these chapters in stories I read so bare with me and my hypocrisy

I always get extremely pissed off when I get to these chapters in stories I read so bare with me and my hypocrisy.

Sorry there hasn't been an update in what… like 3 weeks? First week of summer Alesia and I were all over the story and pulling ideas out of our asses right and left and then we started summer school (shoot us, right?). We figured, "Hey man, 3 weeks of economics vs. 18 weeks." I mean, c'mon, what would you do?

Anyway, as lame as that excuse is, staying up till 4 in the morning to write a chapter every night like we had been doesn't mix well when you have to wake up at 6:30 and then sit through 5 ½ hours of government talk and shit you don't care about it.

But back to the point, hopefully since summer school is over now, we'll have time to start writing again if yall want us to and _only_ if yall want us to. So lemme rephrase that…

**If you want us to continue "Easy Money," leave a review saying so.**

All other reviews have been greatly appreciated though :D Thanks so much!

-Brooke


	6. Questions

Well, this is the new and improved chapter 5.  
The only reason I'm rewriting this little author's notes section is because I'm a dumbass and uploaded the new version without copying this part first... smacks head

Either way, enjoy.

Disclaimer: Not ours :(

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"DADDY!" A little voice was heard throughout the house, followed by the sound of feet running down the halls. Not soon after, the front door was heard with a slam.

"Sora! Wait, he's working!" Riku shouted in desperation as Sora threw open the double doors leading to an office. Inside, an older man was sitting at a large mahogany desk, face absorbed by the bright glow of the laptop sitting in front of him. Looking up at the sound of the door opening, a smile crept across his face at the sight of Sora, flushed from running home. His gaze then changed directions as a tall figure stumbled into the room, leaning up against the door frame.

"I tried… to stop… Told you were… busy…" Riku panted between words, dropping his book bag along with Sora's book bag, lunchbox, and jacket.

"It's okay, Riku," Sora's father said before turning his attention back to the little boy whose hands were tightly dripping the armrest of his father's chair. "Hey there son."

"Riku told me you came home early so I ran here as fast as I could, I even dropped my stuff on the way, I was just so excited!" Sora's father looked over his son's shoulder at the pile of bags Riku had recently dumped on the ground and chuckled.

"Speaking of which, I'm gonna go take these up to Sora's room." Scooping the bags up in his arms, he turned around and was stopped by a deep voice.

"Are you going to be here this weekend, Riku? Because you know you're not required to work weekends when we're in town."

"Well Mr. Devane, my friend Axel was having a party this weekend, I was thi-" Before Riku could finish his sentence, he was cut off.

"No, me and Riku are having a sleepover this weekend." With raised eyebrows, Sora's dad turned his attention from Sora back to Riku with a grin.

"A sleepover, huh?"

"Well I guess it's decided already, I'm staying here." Riku smirked shyly to Sora, who whipped around with a large smile that was so tight on his cheeks, his eyes seemed to squint. "I'm gonna take our stuff upstairs Sora, try not to bother your dad too much, okay?" Finally placing every bag Riku had on a shoulder and slowly closing the door behind him, he made his way to the stairs. Sora stood facing the closed door for a second then spun on his heels to his dad, who by this point reverted his attention back to his screen.

"… Daddy?"

"Mhmm?"

"I'm not bothering you, am I? I… I… I just wanted to see you, I mean-" and then a hand plopped on his head, forcing his now watery eyes to look up, catching the light from the outside window and making the water glow brighter as a tear slowly started to fall.

"No son, not at all. Your presence is quite warming. Even if you weren't talking, I'd enjoy every minute." He closed his eyes with a smile then removed his hand back to his keyboard, which in a second went back to the constant speed and sound of a chirping humming bird, echoing throughout the large office. Sora balled his hands and rubbed his eyes with a hidden smile. Acknowledgment felt good. It was a feeling Sora liked, something that he enjoyed having and something that made saying goodbye to his parents harder and harder each time, but it was the times like these that Sora enjoyed having a steady caretaker. Riku had confirmed that his parents thought of him even when they were gone, and if they weren't at that moment when Sora needed to know most, he was. Sora was excited to have both his parents and Riku here this weekend, and then with a shock, Sora grabbed his dad's arm rest again.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Me and Riku-"

"Riku and I son, remember your grammar."

"Uh yeah, Riku and I need a tent for our sleepover… Do we have one?" he looked up at his dad whose eyes never left his screen and his fingers never lost there constant motion.

"Yes, I believe there is one in the upstairs closet right next to the bathroom in the right wing."

"Oh okay…" The sound of the keys again filled his ears and his eyes moved from his dad's face to his fingers. They moved so swiftly, his dad didn't even need to look at them. "Oh! We also need sleeping bags," Sora said with a gasp, moving back to his dad's face which just seemed to look angelic under the blue light of the computer screen and the orange of the outside sun.

"Last I remember, that would be in the same closet."

"Daddy…"

"Yes?"

"What's a kiss?" Then the sound that once emanated throughout the entire room stopped. Sora's dad, whose fingers moved at a constant speed stopped. This time the room was silent, completely silent. Sora bowed his head at the reaction. Was this not a good question to ask?

"Uhh a kiss… Well I give you kisses all the time," he said leaning toward Sora and placing a small peck on his check which made Sora giggle.

"No daddy, I know that… I mean like a kiss, a _real_ kiss," Sora asked with wide eyes at his dad who moved his face in a multitude of emotions that ranged from confusion to "why me?" to "this is awkward".

"Well a real kiss as you put it, if I'm understanding what you're asking is… Well I believe something you do when… when you care about someone. Could be from worry or love." Then the office door opened with a squeak as Sora's mother came in.

"Dear, you have a phone call." She walked in and smiled at both the boys inside.

"Well then," and with a gasp of relief, Sora's dad returned his attention to Sora. "That's enough of that for now; we can continue this conversation later perhaps?" He then kissed him on the cheek and turned him toward the door. "Work calls, sorry, and besides you should probably prepare for your other events son," and with a push on his back, Sora skipped to the door and turned to his dad at the last moments in the room with a quiet "thank you" and hopped out. Sora's mother looked at him walk away and then to her husbands sweaty expression. With furrowed brows, she puckered her lips.

"What'd I miss? What's up with the boy?"

"He's entering his preteens, his tweens… err, his whatever, and before we know it, he will hit puberty," Sora's father rambled. He then grabbed the phone on his desk, and pressed the line button with the flashing red light, "Hello? Ah, yes, Mr. Tomolo, how have you been?"

A few minutes of small talk passed before the two business men finally got down to business and Mr. Devane gave an annoyed look to his still present wife before shooing her away. On her way out, she heard him mutter something about his nosy wife before laughing. Scrunching her nose up in annoyance, she set out down the hall, looking for something to occupy her time, finding just what she was looking for.

"Okay Riku, think… You had your textbook this morning and if it wasn't in your book bag, then where did you leave it?" Jumping over the last two steps of stairs, Riku began walking down the hallway, completely oblivious to the fact that he wasn't alone. It wasn't until a small hand made its way across his shoulder that he noticed someone else there with him. Turning around, Riku quickly grabbed the hand on his shoulder before releasing it just as quickly when he saw who it belonged to.

"Mrs. Devane! I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were there and then you just freaked me out!"

"It's Shirin dear, remember? And don't even worry about it sweetie, it's not a problem, really," Sora's mother said. 'This'll be fun,' she thought. Trailing her fingertips across Riku's shoulders once more and then down his chest, she tip toed her way around him before facing him. There was a second of silence before she giggled to herself. "So I hear you and the boy are having a sleepover this weekend."

"Uhh, yeah, actually… me and _Sora_ are, I guess, I mean he just came home from school one day talking about one and then asked," Riku explained hastily, trying to get out of this awkward situation as soon as he could.

"Well doesn't that just sound like so much fun… Though, I was hoping me and you could have a sleepover of our own sometime. I'm a little disappointed he got to you first." Then in one swift motion, she stood on her tip toes and brushed her lips against Riku's ear. "You know where to find me," she whispered before giggling out loud this time and walking away.

Too shocked to move, Riku stood motionless for a few moments. It wasn't until a small voice pulled him out of the shadows of his mind, where he was previously considering new thoughts, did he realize that once again, he wasn't alone. Following the voice, Riku found himself looking up into the blue eyes of Sora, who was currently hanging halfway off the staircase, yearning for his attention.

"Riku? Riku! C'mon Riku, I know you can hear me!"

"Yes Sora, I can, _loud and clear_. Now, what do you want that's so important?"

"… I can't reach the tent…" Sora said with a sniffle, pointing up high above his head, gesturing to the significant height difference between him and the top shelf. Shaking his head with a chuckle, Riku made his way upstairs, stopping to place his hand on Sora's back.

"Lead the way kiddo," he said with a smile before following the short brunette in front of him. After a somewhat long walk to the other side of the house, Riku and Sora arrived at the closet. Riku laughed when he saw little Sora motioning to the shelf the tent was on and laughed even more when he barely had to lift his arms to get it.

"Oh…" Sora blushed, looking the other way. "I'll just get the batteries then."

"Batteries? What do we need batteries for Sora?"

"The flashlights, duh. It _is_ a sleepover Ri-ku. Don't act like you've never had one."

"Are you sure this isn't a camping trip? You're not gonna pull out some fishing rods, are you?"

"No Riku, don't be stupid, but I do have that one fishing game if you wanna fish that badly and if you really wanna set the scene, we can always play outside. Oh and while you're up there, grab the sleeping bags then follow me." Sora flashed a quick smile at Riku before turning around and walking away.

"W-wait! Sora, wait a second, slow down!" Scrambling to gather all the supplies, Riku attempted to follow Sora, only to be stopped by one of the sleeping bags falling out of his grip and falling to the floor. Before he had time to react, he was already tripping over said sleeping bag and falling to the floor. "SHIT!"

"Uh-oh Riku, that's a bad word…" Sora stated as he spun to examine why Riku had stopped following.

"Oh yeah and wench isn't a bad word Sora? Just come help me up," Riku said standing on all fours, desperately trying to re-roll the sleeping bag to its original state. With a giggle, Sora placed the batteries in his pockets and with a skip headed toward his caretaker.

"He-he, you look funny, are you okay?"

"Now you ask me that, oh and thanks, I'm actually _trying_ to look stupid."

"Oh… Did you trip on purpose?" Sora questioned, stopping his movement just incase, trying not to ruin some huge joke Riku might have had planned, while placing a hand at the crook of his neck and just standing there, waiting for an answer. A sigh escaped from Riku as he just sat on his heels and closed his eyes, slowly shifting his head to the left and right. "Riku? Are you okay or is this still part of the joke?" Taking a few final large steps toward Riku then kneeling down in the same pose, his little body in a small portion to Riku's as he curiously looked up at him.

"I didn't do this on purpose Sora, I was being sarcastic."

"Sar-cas-tic… what's that?" Sora's eyes squinted a little still completely glued to Riku's face.

"Well it is like being uh… saying one thing when it is obviously the other, like I didn't mean to fall, but I said I did on purpose to make a point, most of the time the point is to make the other person feel… stupid, BUT not all the time." Riku shifted his eyes constantly, making strange new faces and moving his hands at the same time, trying to physically and mentally find a good definition that a 12 year old could understand, especially Sora.

"WHAT!? YOU WERE TRYING TO MAKE ME FEEL STUPID!?" Sora panicked with wide eyes.

"NO! Gosh kiddo, clam down, I said most of the time but not all of the time, calm down, okay?" Riku clinched Sora's shoulder to make sure he looked at him straightly and directly into his bright blue eyes, into the abyss of time and space to where even the most obscure of thoughts and images seemed to be fine and okay and that Sora was there staring back into Riku, but it felt to Riku, that he was just falling into Sora's eyes and…

"Riku?"

"Yeah kiddo?"

"Can we go set up the tent now?" and with a few sudden blinks, Riku was standing and helping Sora to do the same. This time, they both were holding a sleeping bag to avoid any accidents like previously, and began to set up everything… well Riku did. Sora sat comfortably on the sofa watching, no, _directing_ Riku into where and what to do, but when the time came to put up the tent up, they both seemed stupefied. Not wanting to wake Sora's parents, Riku just pulled a few dining chairs together and threw a sheet over them, then viola! Their tent was made. They unrolled their bags and made popcorn and Sora made sure they followed his "to do" list of sleepover activities. By now they laid down in the dark, side by side, lost in the comfort of their sleeping bags and silence of the night. A slight hum once in a while escaped from Riku as he was drifting from the lack of energy.

"Riku?"

"… Mhmm…"

"Are you asleep?" Sora rolled up into a sitting position and scooted on all fours over to where Riku was laying and stared down at his face. His face was slightly light by the dim of the television, which seemed to increase the paleness of his skin tone and the shine of his rare silver hair, to almost create an angelic white angel laying there right in front of little Sora. An angel that pulled Sora out of his corner, that seemed to be the first to show Sora that emotion was something that felt better expressed, someone who made Sora smile, a real smile, someone who was a friend and had sleepovers with him. Riku truly did a lot for Sora… but… he _did_ get paid to do that. Which was one of the points that Sora didn't understand, was he doing this for the money, was Riku another one of his other caretakers that never lasted? NO! These thoughts were quickly erased from Sora's train of thought as he seemingly remembered when he first met Riku. He seemed to honestly try to speak to him, and apparently meant it when he _kissed _him. Kissed him… Looking down at Riku, little Sora wondered what it would be like to really kiss Riku, just like he had done. Crawling closer to Riku, Sora stopped only when he was right next to him. He watched Riku for a minute longer to make sure he was asleep before crawling on top of him and giving him a hug. When Riku still didn't move from his sleep, Sora gathered his courage and slowly brought himself down to Riku's face before lightly kissing him on the lips. As soon as the little brunette's lips touched his caretakers, he pulled away, a blush soon smothering his face. Slinking back over to his own sleeping bag, Sora turned to look at Riku one more time before whispering a goodnight and drifting off to sleep himself.

'Shit.' Turning onto his side away from Sora, Riku's eyes shot open, before he squeezed them back shut.

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:D :D Reviews are still appreciated.


	7. Riku's Escape

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG.

We started this a couple weeks ago, and once again our lack of motivation took over. We were hell bent on finishing this chapter and posting it last Friday, but y'all see how well that worked out. We were out of town for a week and you should all be honored to know that this was one of the first things we did when we got back :D

We had a lot of fun writing this chapter, hell, we're the funniest people we know so I don't know, me and Alesia hope you enjoy this!

And don't get offended by anything in this chapter. We took a different approach this time and went from Riku's point of view so it's very... loopy... BUT good nonetheless.

Disclaimer: Ah, we all wish.

**WARNING: This will not be updated until a sufficient amount of reviews are required... we don't know that number yet so just review to be safe :) Our motivation issues pose a big enough problem already.**

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Slowly the suns rays leaked in the crevices of the tent, hand made by Sora and Riku that very night. They peaked around the empty spaces and touched all the parts of the blankets with a dim glow from through the sheets. A tuff of hair shifted to the left and right, unable to continue the previous somber sleep. Then with a squint, brilliant blue eyes started to gather the rays, exploring the tent. Sora then started to rub the sleep from his eyes. He had such an exciting evening and was even more excited for what adventures awaited him today. Yet as the colorful circles started to fade away from rubbing his eyes, he started to notice that something was missing. The tent was bright and homey yet lonely. There right next to him, where a person who had created such a feeling within Sora's heart, had vanished. All that remained was an already re-rolled sleeping bag, completely packed up and ready to once again meet the closet. Either the sun's rays seemed to be too bright for little Sora's newly awakened eyes or little Sora was lost. He removed himself rather quickly from the cocoon which kept the body warmth he created throughout the night, revealing the brisk air of the house to crawl all over his skin. He stumbled over to where the sleeping bag was and studied it very closely. There was no sign that it was even used, but Sora knew very well that it had been. Perhaps Riku left him something, some sort of sign, so Sora removed things and looked under and around all the bedding, suddenly standing up and disrupting the roof of his tent. He quickly threw the sheet off and started to walk around the downstairs, which strangely seemed to still be undisturbed, and after a few laps of hustled breaths, Sora made it back to where he had started. Then with his hands on his knees, he looked up at his previous happy memories, now shattered on the floor, their tent not even still standing. With a snuffle, Sora slowly made his way over to the newly recognized mess and started to cry.

"… You just left?" A tall redhead was nonchalantly leaning against a wooden doorframe, the morning breeze doing nothing to help him get over the fact that he didn't bother putting on pants before opening the door. While yawning and stretching, he caught a glimpse of his Cat Woman boxers and began to regret his choice even more. Looking up to meet his friends gaze, he smirked at the sight of Riku staring at the boxers himself. "Dude, you know she was hot, okay?"

"Yeah man, whatever you say and yeah… I did just leave. I mean, is that bad? Should I have left a note or something, it's not like he's gonna freak, right? He's what, 12, 13? He should be able to wake up on his own, I mean granted he has _some_ emotional issues because of his parents but I mean, c'mon, right? I'm right, right?"

"Woah man, you need to take a chill pill. How 'bout you step into Dr. Axel's office, I happen to prescribe some." Following Axel throughout the apartment, Riku found himself sitting at a small round table. "So how should we start off our appointment today? Ah, how about a nice drink, are you thirsty?"

"Uhh, yeah, I'm a little thirsty."

"Well then, let's take a look at our selection." Opening a small mini fridge off to the side, Axel's eyes widened in excitement. "Perfect. How about some whiskey? Vodka? Rum? Gin? Scotch? Beer?"

"Seriously? You know its like, 9:30 in the morning, don't you?"

"FINE. I _guess_ I'll just make some coffee." Riku watched in amazement as his friend spiked the coffee, stealing a drink straight from the bottle himself before returning back to his steaming concoction. Then thinking to himself, he decided that a trip to Alcoholics Anonymous would make a good birthday present for Axel. After a few moments thought, Riku decided what the hell. It's not like he planned on going home tonight anyway. When a large mug was placed in front of him, Riku looked up with a grin.

"One question before I start chugging your coffee. Can I crash here tonight?"

"Well I wouldn't have it any other way considering the fact that we're drinking coffee with rum." Not soon after that was said, Axel was on his way to refill his mug. "And I'm not exactly sure how many of these we'll be drinking." As Riku lifted the cup of joe to his lips, he was stopped in his tracks when Axel's voice made its way to his ears one last time. "Oh Riku… Caution: The beverage you're about to enjoy may be extremely hot… and alcoholic." Chuckling, Riku shook his head at his friend and threw back the coffee, wasting no time in pouring himself another cup.

A few minutes of silence passed before Axel's head shot up with a devilish grin. "So Riku, since we just woke up and all and this seems like it's gonna be _such_ a long day, how about a wake-n-bake? (a/n: for those of you who do not know (like me, brooke) this is slang for hittin' mary jane in the morning)"

"Dude, you know I've been up for 2 hours."

"Yeah, but I just got up 10 minutes ago with you banging on my door, so it's the least you can do."

"Whatever man. You probably don't even have any and I'm not paying for that shit."

"What'd you think? That I gave you _just_ coffee with rum in it? Please, have some class. That wasn't all ground up coffee beans, my friend." Suddenly choking on his sip of coffee, Riku pulled the cup away from his mouth, eyeing it suspiciously. "Some people like to wake up to a bowl of cereal, I prefer to wake up to a bowl of weed." Still staring at the cup of coffee in his hands, Riku took a whiff of the drink before shrugging his shoulders and taking a long gulp.

"So, how'd you get in to college?" Pausing mid gulp, Axel's eyes widened as he tilted his head towards his friend.

"Don't ask questions."

"Right… Whatever man, I still don't know if this is such a good idea."

"Is this about the whole it being illegal thing? 'Cause they prescribe it to cancer patients all the time and I don't know, I mean, your hair's kind of a funky color, it could pass for a wig. Couldn't you like, fake a nosebleed or something like those leukemia patients. I don't know, I could slap your cheeks a few times, get your face all rosy."

"Wait, why do I have to be the cancer patient? You have some pretty fucked up hair, too."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I look good." Smirking, Axel stared down at his crotch. "Cat Woman begs to differ. I mean look at her, she's smiling." A huge grin spread across his cheeks as he looked back up at Riku. "She's got the best seat in the house. Oh man, do you know what would make this better? We should go out. Get some chicks… party in the birthday suit. I mean, I'm already almost there, I'm sure we could whip your clothes off pretty quick. What undies you wearing?" Reaching out and pulling the waistband of Riku's pants, his hand was quickly slapped away.

"Dude. Back off."

"Okay, I get it. You don't wanna get naked quite yet, don't worry. Axel understands. How about some more coffee, a smoke, and then we go get something to eat?"

"I'm totally unsure on this one, man, but I stopped counting how much of your coffee I've had at 5 cups, so yeah, sounds like a date."

Miraculously, Riku and Axel managed to drive to none other than Demyx's place of employment: Chili's. Making their way up to the door, they were kindly greeted by a familiar face.

"Axel! Riku! Welcome to Chili's!"

"Nami! Hey! When did you start working here!?" Riku said, waving idiotically.

"I've been working here awhile Riku, remember? We worked at the Chili's back home together in high school… You were the one that convinced our boss to let me transfer up here."

"Oh…" Before Riku could emit another word, Axel swooped in, draping a long arm around Namine's shoulders.

"Anyway! Namine, is Demyx working?"

"Oh yeah, he's at the bar." Suddenly, pointing a finger towards the bar, Riku took on a heroic voice, stepping forward.

"Then to the bar we shall go!" Without hesitation, Riku followed his finger. Arms still draped around Namine's shoulder, Axel stared down with a tilted brow.

"Oh Nami… White really is your color." With a wink, he was off, leaving behind a red faced giggling girl to catch up with Riku. "I'll be getting her number tonight." At that moment, a short figure with blond hair walked by, overhearing that last bit and cocking an eyebrow. "Hers too," Axel stated with lustful eyes, motioning towards the blonde. Soon, they were taking their seats at the bar. Twirling his finger in the air, Axel attempted to catch his friends attention. "Demyx!" At hearing the sound of Demyx's name, Riku perked up.

"Demyx!? Demy!? Where are you!?" Popping up on the other side of the bar, a peppy figure grinned from ear to ear.

"Riku! Axel! My friends!" Walking over to join them, he couldn't make another sentence before Riku spoke again.

"We need coffee."

"Do you want me to go make you some…?"

"Is it Axel's coffee?"

"No, it's… Chili's coffee…"

"No, Axel's is better." Leaning in and motioning Demyx to come closer, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "It's special." Both boys were startled when another figure entered their circle.

"What are we talking about?" A hushed Axel asked.

"Your awesome coffee, man." Riku's voice no longer held its hushed whisper from before.

"Oh yeah, I got those special ingredients. Cat Woman's guarding them for me." Looking back and forth between the two friends, the situation finally dawned upon Demyx.

"You guys started early," he stated matter-of-factly. Demyx was pulled out of his serious state of mind when a wolf call was heard.

"Hey Dem-Dem, who's that spunky babe over there with the blonde hair?"

"Oh, that's Roxas!" Demyx giggled loudly. "Roxas, come here! Meet my friends!" He screamed almost hysterically.

"Yeah Roxy, come here!" Axel blew kisses in the air, motioning with his finger for Roxas to come closer. Riku just had his eyes widely glued to the bar and when he felt the presence of another between him and his friend, he twitched his head up dramatically to inspect the new presence.

"Have you tried Axel's coffee?" the blonde just puckered his lips in a confused face and tilted a brow over toward the man with silver hair.

"Who's Axel?"

"WHO'S AXEL? _WHO'S AXEL?_ How could you even ask such a question!? Well, I believe it is time to show you exactly WHO Axel is, Roxy baby." Axel stated, wrapping his arm around the blonde's waist and pulling him closer to his side.

"That's Axel and this over here is Riku, they go to my college. They're my friends. Guys, this is Roxas. He's new here." Demyx stated with his usual wide grin pointing to each of the boys when he stated their names. Axel stopped all movements towards Roxas when he heard the last part of Demyx's statement…"he's"… he then twitched his face multiple ways. "Axel, you okay?"

"Did you say _HE_ is new?" with an eyebrow raised he looked up at his still smiling friend.

"Oh yeah, it's his first job, right Roxas? He's only 16, such a youngen." Demyx patted Roxas on the shoulder that was still around Axel's arm, confused from the whole situation.

"OH, Axel… he… Is that okay?" Riku flipped his hair to get a good look at his friend who was previously hidden behind his bangs.

"_He, she,_ whatever, either way, Cat Women releases the beast, haha, right Roxy! And besides you got a fine ass no matter what sex you are!" he said sneaking himself a grab of Roxas' butt.

"EPP! ...I have to go… I have 3 tables to wait…and table number 17 was complaining about their food and if I wait here longer it's just gonna get cold."

"Oh Roxas, chill, you can relax a bit while working, you know." Demyx said rolling his eyes motioning to some other waiters to grab Roxas' tables. "Not forever, just help him, he's new." Demyx explained, whispering the last part.

"Hey, you really should try Axel's coffee. It has special coffee beans." Riku grabbed at Roxas' hand shaking it viciously. Roxas moved his eyes between Riku then back to Demyx with a silent thank you for the help, but when he felt little fingers around his left cheek, butt cheek for that matter, he twisted his body in a desperate attempt to escape from the greedy hands caressing his buttocks.

"HEY!" Roxas shouted, who by now completely shifted in a circle, still in Axel's grasp.

"Roxy baby, you're such a little slutty wutty, playing games with me. Hehe. You should hang out with me and Riku tonight, Demyx is coming too. I'm throwing a big par-tay."

"Annnnd have Axel's coffee, right? I mean, I'm right who doesn't want Axel's coffee?"

"Oh don't worry my friend, I have everything all here." Gently patting his crotch, Axel gave a large grin toward his one track minded friend. "Cat Women is watching over my _secret_ ingredient right now."

"What!? You have some hidden there?"

"Yeah, duhh, you never leave home without it. You just never know when you'll need to spike something."

"Excellent, we should give some to Demyx to make our food here EXTRA better!"

"Uhh I don't know how well that would work, but you know me… I'm game!" Watching the two teens talk, Roxas finally answered Axel's question still completely confused.

"Uhh… I can't… I'm… going, going bowling, yeah that's right bowling with… my mom." Roxas' eyes just shifted left and right, then with the final answer of to where he was going he stared straight avoiding all, well any more contact with the red head.

"Bowling? I'll show you how a real man bowls with extra big balls." Axel's eye brows wiggled at the thought of his bowling game with Roxas.

"Oh man, Cat Women will be jealous." Riku nudged Axel as best he could, trying to reach around a squirmy Roxas between them.

"I'm sure she has other ways to please herself, and besides everyone needs a break. 'Cause we all know how not everyone can keep up with the flaming fun that's Axel."

"Who the _fuck_ is Cat Women?" Roxas finally asked in an annoyed voice.

"Oh look Riku, my Roxy is already getting jealous… Definitely. Wants. Me." Then looking up at Roxas, Axel suddenly grabbed his head and with a slight whisper, "I'll show you my sweet friend," Then pulled his head with a quick speed toward his crotch, pulling at the waistband of his pants at the same time. Roxas pulled up just as fast as he had been there, panting with wide eyes.

"You named your... your..." shuddering at the thought.

"Heavens no." Just before Roxas took a deep sigh, Axel opened his mouth once again. "Just the protecting boxers, I tried showing you." Looking into his pants Axel chuckled, while noticing through the corner of his eye, the blonde trying to sneak a peak. "Haha don't worry, you will probably get a peak later." Red, Roxas removed his eyes up to the wall.

"Oh guys, not here, but if you wanna wait like 30 minutes till I get off we can head to your place Axel." Demyx was cleaning his spot on the bar for the next person while talking. "Roxas you really should come when you get off. You know, if you can get out of bowling with your mom, an Axel party is something that's life changing, and I mean completely awesome." (a/n: demyx didn't catch on to roxas' lie mwahahaha)

"Heh well, well thank you my friend." Axel sat there with a smirk that explained every emotion toward receiving a compliant. The sound of slapping hands echoed as Riku suddenly started to stand.

"Well before we go back to Axel's, I need a toy to take back, and since this place is lacking for me its time to go to spot two… and we will wait for yah Dem- Dem… outside. Come on Axel." Riku started to walk away from his friends, causing Demyx to run to the back to finish the last of his clean up and clock out, while Axel just turned to his current obsession.

"Well then," grabbing his arm, Axel pulled a pen out of no where and wrote his number across his forearm. "When you get off give me a call Roxy baby," Suddenly pulling Roxas down so that Axel's mouth was right at his ear, and whispered seductively with hot heavy breaths. "Don't forget what Dem-Dem said, it wasn't a joke. I can give you a night that you won't forget, no matter how hard you would try to." Standing up with a grin Axel started to walk away from the now red faced boy, and as soon as he was out of sight, running to his friend. "Rikuu!"

"Took you a while."

"Yeah, but I told you I'd get her number too."

"His."

"Either way I'll be excepting a call tonight," With a chuckle from both men, they started to walk out of Chili's. "Nami, check you later!" and with a pointed finger and a click from his mouth the both stepped into the sun.

"Guys! I thought you were gonna wait for me!"

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R E V I E W. **NOW.**


	8. Time to Grow Up

Well we figured we already started this so even though we didn't get many reviews, why wait to post it?

Disclaimer: Fan**fiction**. What do you think?

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Slowly closing the door to lock in the darkness to where there was only a slit of light escaping into the dark room behind the wooden frame, Sora's mother moved her foot oh so slowly backwards, avoiding any unneeded noise. It was already 3 and a half hours past Sora's bedtime. Of course the night that Riku was off for the night the boy would have some sort of useless issues and now she had to deal with him. It was just about to drive her crazy. All her thoughts assembled in and out of her head as she kept a steady backwards motion away from the door.

"Why must he be so needy? Haven't we taught him how selfish that is?" she stopped about 3 steps from his door in the center of the hallway and listened, listened for silence. As far as she was concerned, in the brief second she stood there, a slight sigh started to escape from her nostrils at the same time as the lids to her eyes fell when suddenly, a noise started to muster in the darkness, sounding like it was somewhat of a muffled cry or as muffled as Sora could manage; a cry that was buried deep within the center of your pillow, followed by slow huffs of gasping air. "Dear God, what now? Is it too bright in there now? What on earth is troubling the boy this time?" Rolling her eyes and twitching her lids, she opened the door once again, letting in the light for who knows how many times this evening. She stood there, leaned against the door frame pressing the temple of her head on two fingers with a brow raised.

"Sweetie… what's the matter… _now_?"

"N-nothing," Sora gasped between sobs.

"Sora… This is about the millionth time I've been up here tonight, something is wrong. What can I do to help?"

"You can't do an-anything!" he yelled at the door. "I'm fine," he cried before a new set of tears made their way down his cheeks.

"This is the last time I'm coming in. Your father and I have to go out of town again tomorrow and we need to get a good nights rest, so this is your last chance." She paused, waiting for a reply and when none was heard, she turned around and headed out the door. "Hm, fine. Suit yourself." Just as the end of her dress was disappearing to the other side of the wooden frame, Sora spoke up.

"I just miss Riku! He hasn't been here all day and he didn't even say bye or leave a note or anything, he just left and I haven't seen him all day and I haven't talked to him all day and I just want him to come home to me!"

"You know sweetie, it _is_ his day off, he's allowed to go out tonight. You're not his life, this is just a job to him, his life doesn't revolve around you." At hearing this, Sora began to blubber (a/n: blubber- synonym for sob! Word told us so). With a sigh of defeat, his mother finally gave up. "Fine. I'll try to give him a call." The sound of tears was put to an end as the young brunette looked up with a newly found smile on his face.

"Really!?" Quickly nodding her head and waving her hand, she left the room and made her way to the phone. Reaching it and dialing Riku's number, she waited for an answer.

"Yo?" Riku's voice was barely heard through the phone, the music and yells of other people almost overpowering him.

"Hello Riku dear, it's Shirin." Hearing this, Riku's eyes widened as he plugged his free ear with a finger, blocking out all unnecessary sounds. With a cough, he attempted to clear his throat.

"Oh, Mrs. Devane, hello," Riku managed to choke out. "What're you doing calling so late?"

"It's Shirin dear, and well, well, it sounds like you're having some fun tonight. I'd _hate_ to ruin that but unfortunately I've been having some problems getting the boy to sleep. I've been trying for hours but it seems I can't get it through his thick skull that _I'm _his mother and that _I _should be able to help. For some reason, he just wants you."

"Yeah I want him to, I mean, I just don't know how legal that is, I'm like what? 8 years older and isn't it considered rape if he's not like 16 or something?" Riku began to ramble until he was stopped by the voice on the other line.

"I can hardly hear you dear, I don't know what you're saying about rape but I'd just really appreciate it though if you could just get here and take care of the situation. I know it's your night off but I'm sure I could give you a little _bonus_ for coming home on such short notice."

"What kind of bonus?"

"Use your imagination dear and I'm pretty sure it'll be worth your while." Riku's eyes widened even more if possible before he quickly agreed to the terms and got of the phone, searching the house for Axel. After 10 minutes of searching, Riku found himself at the punch bowl, pouring himself a glass to soothe his nerves (a/n: which really didn't need soothing if u think about it… since 9:30?). Suddenly, a familiar voice made its way to his ears.

"Riku! Look who I brought, it's Roxas!" Grinning from ear to ear, Demyx dragged a scared looking Roxas behind him, making sure not to let go until they were next to Riku.

"Chick-ass, you made it! Mom let you get outta bowling? Axel's gonna be so excited, does he know you're here yet?" Looking over at Roxas, he watched him pour a glass of punch, and then looked up at Demyx who held up 3 fingers, indicating how many small glasses Roxas had already had. With a small chuckle, Riku shook his head.

"Nervous I'm assuming?" Riku patted Roxas' shoulder. Looking at him curiously, Roxas spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"So Riku, who called you a little bit ago? I saw you on the phone when we got here," Demyx questioned.

"Shit!" Riku yelled, "I gotta find Axel!" Running away, Roxas turned his attention back to Demyx.

"Demyx, what did he mean?"

"Nothing really, it's cool, I mean we just didn't know you were such a heavy drinker."

"I don't drink…"

"Really? You've had like 6 glasses of punch." Appearing out of nowhere, a long arm belonging to a tall redhead draped itself around Roxas' shoulders.

"Yeah, so? Let the boy have some fun," Axel smirked, winking at Roxas.

"You know _nothing_ at Axel's party is non-alcoholic… That includes the punch," Demyx chimed in.

"What!?"

"Oh Demy, you're ruining all my fun! How am I supposed to get laid now?" Rubbing his cheek against Roxas', Axel flirted with the blushing blonde.

"You know that's like, totally illegal, right? I'm only 16."

"What do you mean, the drinking… or the sex? 'Cause nobody has to know about either."

"Just so you know, my mom thinks I'm at my cousin's house!"

"Ohh, first big lie, eh? I remember those days. So… that means you can stay the night, right?"

"No! It means I'm supposed to be at my cousins!"

"Too late for that, Roxy." Turning a shade darker, Roxas looked to Demyx for help, but only found a face full of amusement as he watched the two battle it out. Turning Roxas so that he faced him, Axel held him at arms length. "Hey, hey, it's okay." Slowly, he lowered his hands down the curves of Roxas' back until they grazed his ass. At the touch, Roxas inhaled sharply and Axel began to enjoy himself even more. "Just have some punch and me and you can go to a nice quiet room and get to know each other… You know, take you away from the hustle and bustle of the party. Your first time at an Axel party can be overwhelming, don't worry though, Axel understands." Gripping his wrist, Axel began to drag Roxas away, yelling behind him to Demyx, "You're in charge, man!" And with that, the two disappeared upstairs.

"Have you seen Axel!?" Riku had somehow found his way back to the punch bowl only to find Demyx standing alone. "I swear I've been like everywhere or something, I don't know. I mean, I went through the dining room and to the kitchen, asked a few kids if they knew where he was, got some coffee, and somehow I just ended up back here."

"Oh, that would becaaauuuse you just missed him!" Demyx smiled before continuing. "He left me… for Roxas." Faking a sob, Demyx threw himself at Riku, only to be grabbed by the shoulders and pushed away.

"Dude. Where is he?"

"Upstairs!" In less than a split second, Riku had already bolted up the stairs, leaving Demyx alone, still talking. "But I'm charge now, guess you coulda told me but now I'm alone… again."

Upstairs, Axel slowly opened a door and led Roxas into a red bedroom. Before he could get a good look around, Axel had sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Roxas onto his lap, crushing their lips together. Roxas grabbed the collar of Axel's shirt, trying to gain his balance while still holding him close. Still holding their glasses of "punch", Axel decided that Roxas' action was good enough incentive to go further. Slowly, he began sliding his hand up Roxas' shirt. After a few minutes, the two pulled apart for desperately needed air and Axel looked into Roxas' eyes with a devilish smirk.

"I told you, you wouldn't regret it."

"Shut up," Roxas whispered huskily before pulling on Axel's collar again, their lips meeting for the second time. A few doors slamming were heard down the hall until finally, footsteps were heard approaching their door. When the door to their room was swung open, Axel and Roxas abruptly stopped and looked over. Roxas had just enough time to make out Riku's face before he was pulled off of Axel from the back of his shirt. Tripping on his way up, Roxas found himself standing next to Riku, still attached by his shirt.

"Dude! What the hell!" Axel screamed at Riku.

"I gotta tell you something important."

"What!?"

"I gotta go."

"… SO!?"

"So I'm not crashing. Here, I am… I'll be crashing, just not here. I gotta go… Oh yeah, you can have this back." Riku flung Roxas back onto Axel, pushing him back until they were both lying flat, stomach to stomach. Turning around, Riku left the room and closed the door, only to pop back in a moment later. "By the way," he pointed to Roxas, "you look a lot like an older version of someone I know… I can't remember who though… I gotta go."

Riku just slammed the door and stood there staring at the hallway. His vision was blurring as he started to walk. All his peripheral vision seemed to be lost when Riku's steps turned into sprints. He moved others away as he searched for the escape out of this house. When he thought he saw the door, he pressed his pace to go a little faster, stopping suddenly in front of the door. Spinning. Spinning. Riku waited for his head to stop spinning around and around. As soon as he could see vertical and horizontal lines for what he thought was straight, he opened the door. His hand had some trouble grabbing his keys in his pocket; they were just swimming away from his fingers. A few seconds later, Riku pulled them out and shut the door, while looking up at the colossal collection of cars compacted together in one small street bumper to bumper, then realized he hadn't a clue where his car was. He knew he drove to Axels earlier and parked at a spot where it would be an easy escape, unlike those who parked in Axel's alleyway. They were stuck until those in front of them moved first. Squinting his eyes, Riku searched his keys for the panic button and pressed it, pointing his keys at the cluster, and when he didn't hear anything in that direction he'd take a few steps to the left or right and press the button again. Flashing lights and a screaming whistle was finally heard, but soon after Riku located the noise he rushed to turn panic off. Riku decided that he'd just settle for the flashing lights, so as he walked over to his car, he just frequently pressed the lock and unlock buttons. When Riku finally arrived at his car, he walked around it, rubbing his fingers across the paint and smiled. "Mmmm, I missed you baby…" Settled in his seat, seatbelt buckled, car started, set cruise control 10 under the speed limit; Riku seemed to have some sort of checklist to follow when he drove like this. Then when he glanced at the clock he forgot his list.

"12:57! Shit! I have to get back. Ugh, what time did she first call me?" Starting off down the street Riku, mashed some more buttons in his car. "Fucking cruise control! I don't need this!" Upon disabling it, Riku's speed increased dramatically as he raced home to Sora. Finally reaching the house, Riku ran 3 red lights, drove at least 25 over the speed limit, and weaved like a maniac though what traffic he decided to race around. Debating whether to just walk in or not, Riku paced the door stoop, and decided to knock. He brought his hand to the door and knocked hard to make sure it echoed throughout the entire house. When the clicks of the lock bounced of the walls in the small stoop, Riku waited.

"Riku?" A familiar head popped out and then the entire door opened revealing a woman with a red shawl over her shoulders. "Oh thank God, finally. Come on, he's upstairs lets get this done… now." She grabbed his wrist then started making her way toward Sora's room. Riku just stumbled behind her. He felt his legs becoming jelly due to his current state and almost collapsed against the wall when they made it to Sora's room. Opening the door, Sora's mother walked into the room and was not surprised when Sora was still sniffling in his bed. She motioned for Riku to follow her, waiting for him to be behind her before she spoke. "Sora sweetie, look who I have." Sora's eyes perked up as he searched the room for the direction her voice came from.

"Heyyyy kiddo!" an overenthusiastic Riku practically yelled. "How ya been?"

"RIKU!" Jumping out of the bed, Sora raced over and tackled Riku, knocking the air out of him. At the impact, Riku doubled over, grabbing his stomach while still trying to hold onto Sora, fighting away the sudden impulse to throw up. "You're here! You came back!"

"Yep. So… what's the matter?" Just as Sora was about to start running his mouth, Sora's mom walked over to Riku and whispered in his ear.

"I'll be downstairs. Come and get your bonus when you're done with… _this_."

"Come on Riku, come lay down with me!" Sora dragged Riku to his bed, and as Sora crawled under the covers, Riku perched himself at the edge.

"Sora… I think we need to talk… or something."

"You're right we do Riku, how could you just leave like that, huh? You didn't even say anything and I was alone all day, I didn't know where you were, I was worried!"

"Kiddo, it was my day off… I mean, I'm allowed to hang out with my friends, I missed them. I spent all yesterday with you."

"But we were having so much fun!"

"But it was my day off and I rarely get days off and I'm just really stressed out and it doesn't help that you're turning 12 but you still act like a 5 year old and, just, and…"

"My mom was right!" By now, tears were once again pouring down Sora's cheeks.

"Wait, what?"

"She said this was only a job to you and that you didn't care," Sora managed to sniffle out.

"Sora, no… that's not true, I do care. You should know that more than anyone else, it's just I think you should act more… your… age."

"I'm sorry Riku!"

"No, don't be. I'm sorry." Riku inched his way up onto the bed and pulled Sora into a tight hug, which was met by a kiss to the cheek. "Now get some sleep." Riku pulled the covers up over Sora and laid down next to him. Soon after, Sora was quietly snoring and Riku bent down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. Tiptoeing out of the room, he closed the door and began to make his way downstairs, already having an idea in mind for what his "bonus" could possibly be. As soon as he reached Sora's mothers room, he grabbed the shiny handle and was just about to open the door but before he could, a voice called his name.

"Riku?"

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REVIEW I SAY!


	9. High Hopes

Kind of a short chapter, but we were satisfied :D A bit sad... but satisfying nonetheless!

We haven't been getting reviews. What we have told you about us? Living? Breathing? Writing? It doesn't happen without reviews. We'd be like raisins, shriveled up with no hope for tomorrow.

By the way, speaking of raisins, we both _hate_ eating them. We both think it's like eating old people, so next time you think about popping one in your mouth, just think about your granny.

Disclaimer: ...

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"Riku? Riku, what are you doing?" Stumbling backwards, Riku quickly tried to see the face that was addressing him. His hand slipped from the door and he started fumbling backwards toward the ground. "AH! Riku!" Foot prints made their path toward where Riku's feet started to become unstable. "Are you okay?" Grabbing Riku by the arm and holding as much as his weight as possible, the smaller boy started shuffling his caretaker toward the sofa.

"Ugsdfbriusdjk…" Something that couldn't even be considered a word mumbled out of Riku's mouth. He followed Sora's pull toward the sofa, then with a plop fell diagonally to rest. "Ugh… thanks."

"What's wrong with you?" Sora put his hand on Riku's forehead, checking his temperature the best he could. "Well I think you're hot."

"Well, well kiddo I appreciate that." With a smirk Riku's thoughts mustered to his friend Axel and his influence on him.

"Uhh yeah, I mean it's probably best that you rest Riku."

"Sorry, I guess I'm a little out of it." Riku started to rub his head in all directions in a sad attempt for a massage.

"… A little?" Sora straddled himself comfortably onto Riku's lap then placing his hands up on Riku's shoulders, gave him a curious look. "You must be super sick or something like that."

"I'll be fine tomorrow, I swear, and why are you _still_ up. I could have sworn you were snoring happily in slumber land when I left your room." Lifting his head from his hands, he looked into Sora's big orbs.

"Huh? Oh I was _only pretending_ to be asleep, silly. You should probably check that next time, but I'm not here to talk about that. I was thinking about what you said earlier to me, about acting my age, and I decided that I would." Sora's eyes seemed to wander around the room to avoid eye contact with Riku's eyes, who's stayed exactly glued to him.

"Well that would be a good thi-" Sora gave Riku a look that made his lips stop forming words. His look was one of insolence. Riku should wait before speaking, Sora wasn't quit finished yet.

"I was _saying_ that I am going to act my age. I thought about it and I really should act more like I do at school." Finally losing the eye war of avoidance, Sora met Riku's glaze and saw nothing but understanding.

"At school? And how do you act there?"

"Like you said, more my age, just like everyone else. That's one reason why I never invite anyone over, I wouldn't know how to act, but not any more. I really want you to meet my friends." Riku smiled as brightly as manageable and just nodded in agreement. He liked this. It was something that made him feel bonded with him, closer to Sora, more than just a caretaker. "I told them about you. They saw you pick me up one day through the window, then asked me the next day about you."

"Hmm really, now what did they say?" Trying not to close his eyes,

Riku lifted his brows to somewhat open the fast falling lids.

"Just like, who was that? And if that was like my older brother or something." Riku kept his eyes where they were, latched on some speck on the carpet, after that last phrase. Brother? Is that _all_ I could be considered?_ Really?_ "I told them you weren't my brother… just a **really, really** close friend."

"Hmph…" His mouth started to form a satisfying grin upon hearing Sora. "Well kiddo, when do you want me to meet them?"

"As soon as possible Riku! In fact you should just hang out with us."

"What do you mean, I probably will, won't I?"

"No... Well yeah, but like join our group of friends. They'll like you if I do, and besides we won't do anything that will make you come home this sick. You always do this when you hang out with your friends. You're clumsy and can't walk, you forget the simplest of things, and your breath always _**smells really**_ bad. It stinks! I don't know what you're doing, but it doesn't have healthy effects on you." Sora just went on a rampage of what Riku does and explained his current condition, but most of what he said was becoming difficult to understand for Riku. His concentration was skewed as well as his ability to hear. He _did_ need to rest.

"Hey now I like my friends… and their not _always_ bad…" Riku couldn't even bare to look at Sora. Clearly, even for his young age, Sora was a lot smarter than Riku anticipated, especially from the way he had been presenting himself. He saw right through Riku and his actions. "And I guess… I should apologize for that… coming home all… _sick_ and all… I never really think about it. I wasn't even gonna come home today till your mom called me. I'm sorry Sora, I really am." Sora lifted his tiny hands to Riku's cheeks and in his own way tried copying what Riku did for him so long ago, lifting his head and just smiling, a happy, understanding smile.

"Thanks Riku…"

"For what kiddo?"

"Coming home…" Sora started to lower his eyes and when Riku pulled his chin up and had that witty smile of his on, Sora smiled too. "I'll make a deal with you Riku."

"Alright, about what?" Still perched on Riku's lap, Sora stood up to bend down above Riku, his hands tightly placed on his shoulders. They were very close, almost nose to nose.

"I'll start acting my age, if you… you have to still sleep with me. Cause I may act older, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still afraid of the dark. I get scared and then the bumps come and then I hear things, so I open my eyes and search for light but all I see is figures, so I have to shut them again and, and, and…" Riku placed a soft kiss upon Sora's head causing his entire tangent to stop.

"Of course, I agree."

"It has to be every night!" Panicked, Sora tried to further explain the terms to their promise.

"It's a promise!" Holding his hand out with his pinky finger up, he waited for Sora to copy his motion, and once he had the deal was made. Their promise was sealed.

Bodies passed out on the floor, cups everywhere, and trash scattered all over Axel's apartment were greeted groggily as the sun started to peek through the windows, giving all the late nighters and party animals who were too drunk to drive a reason to go home to their own dark rooms. As they all made their way out the front door, there was still one extra guest who seemed to be having a difficult time waking up. It didn't take long until the suns rays made their way to that part of the house, fully awakening him. With wide blue eyes, a blonde shot up in a bed, looking around him. When a tuff of red hair was sticking out of the covers, he inhaled sharply. Squeezing his eyes shut and whispering a Hail Mary under his breath, he slowly lifted up the covers and muttered a sigh of relief when he saw boxers and not something a little more… breezy.

"Thank God…" Gently sliding out of the covers, the boy walked over and started pulling his jeans on, doing his best to ignore his headache and keep quiet. Just as he was pulling his shirt over his head, Axel shot up in the bed, eyes glazed over. Looking around the room and then straight ahead, he looked into blue eyes.

"Hey… Roxy… What're you do-" Before he could finish his sentence, he had fallen back to sleep, snoring louder than ever. Wiping his brow, Roxas gathered the rest of his stuff and bolted out the door, running home as quick as possible. Once he got home, he looked up at the clock and swore under his breath before changing yet again into black slacks and a black dress up shirt and leaving once again. Slamming the door, he could faintly make out his mom asking him how his cousin's was before he shot off in the opposite direction.

"Dude, you know you're like 30 minutes late, right?" Demyx questioned when Roxas walked into Chili's. Throwing him a dirty glance, Roxas clocked in before making his way back towards the other blonde scowling.

"Well I _wouldn't _be if _someone_ had bothered to take me with them when they left last night."

"I looked for you but I couldn't find you."

"I was with Axel!"

"Ohh yeah, he locked his door after Riku barged in last night." Rubbing his neck, Roxas remembered how Riku had literally picked him up by the collar and yanked him off the bed.

"You just don't get it Demyx!" he yelled. "You just really needed to take me with you last night, I needed to leave and then stuff happened and I've never done shit like that before and I woke up next to _him_!"

"Woah woah, wait up a sec Rox… as… What happened?"

"Rox is fine," he sniffled out before continuing. "I've never lied to my parents… before last night. I've never _drank_… before last night. I've never kissed anyone before last night, and it gets worse!" Leaning in and motioning for Demyx to come closer, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "And I've never even gotten a blow job before last night…" Suddenly, he raised his voice and paced before throwing his hands up in the air. "And it wasn't even with a girl!" With tears forming in his eyes, he sat down on a box and buried his face in his hands. Demyx looked at him with wide eyes before choosing his words carefully.

"That's… all you guys did?"

"… Yes," Roxas sniffled out again.

"Huh, that's weird..." Almost mumbling to himself, he continued, "How do I put this…? He usually goes all the way and doesn't remember. Aw shit, uhh…" His voice returning to its normal level he met Roxas' gaze. "To put it bluntly, Axel has a habit of going all the way… and then not remembering." The look in Roxas' eyes turned from one of shame to pure sadness.

"No, he'll remember. I mean, he will, right? He didn't even have that much to drink so I think he was fine."

"Yeah but he'd been going at it since like 9 in the morning. Man, I'm sorry 'cause I like you and I know you don't wanna hear this, but he won't remember."

"Yes he will." With that, Roxas turned around and went back to the main section of the restaurant to serve his tables.

After an hour or so, Axel strolled into the restaurant and was greeted by many "familiar" faces. When all greetings were exchanged, he made his way over to Demyx at the bar and plopped down.

"Dem! Hey, who the hell _are_ those fuckers?"

"They were at your party last night."

"Ohh, good people then." With a wink, he began to scan the restaurant. "Roxy!" he shouted when his target was spotted. "Roxy, get your fine ass over here!" Shuffling his way over, Roxas put on his best face, determined to prove Demyx wrong.

"Yeah?"

"Hey baby, I haven't seen you in awhile! Why didn't you come to my party last night!?"

"You saw me this morning… remember? And I did go to your party last night."

"Really? Well, why don't you come over here and remind me what happened." With a cat call and a wink, he pulled Roxas in closer to him only to be pushed away.

"Seriously?" Roxas questioned, his voice still harsh, but his eyes glazing over with a film of tears. When he didn't get a response from Axel, he turned his attention to Demyx. "You were right!" he cried before turning around and running into the back room, leaving a confused Axel with a slightly angry Demyx.

"C'mon Axel, you couldn't have at least played along? The kid just met you and he's already sticking up for you back there and you just don't give a damn."

"Play along with what!? Most of the time after a party the chicks thank me, you know, we don't have to worry about any attachments."

"Yes… Only Roxas is a 16 year old boy that's still in high school whose never drank, been kissed, or apparently gotten a blow job until last night."

"Really…? Are you sure? 'Cause usually I'm the one that gets blown…"

"Axel! That's besides the point!"

"What's the point!?"

"He liked you! He thought you'd remember! _He got attached_."

"Shit."

--

**Reviews are lacking so now a quota is being set. Until we get 10 reviews, you all SUFFER. Mwahahahha.**


	10. One Things Stays the Same

33 of you bitches have this story on alert and 16 have it favorited, why the hell is we can barely weasel 10 reviews out of y'all!?

And just to spite you, this was written days ago. Ha. Ha-ha!

_Alesia: Hahahaha, we have a sick humor  
Brooke: I thought it was dry humor...  
_

If you laugh at us, good people, review. If not... review anyway. Go watch Dimitri Martin's Jokes with a Guitar on YouTube :D

Disclaimer: Actually, we own everything. The game, strat guides, characters, plots, _everything_. There's a new game coming out, KH4: Kairi's a Bitch. Coming out in Sweden for a short period of 5 minutes... in our heads...

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A year had passed since that time. Leaves had fallen, along with snow and rain. The flowers started to bloom once again, the petals growing farther and farther apart from each other, just as friends had done that past year. Sora was twelve on the verge of thirteen while Roxas was seventeen encaged in the life that was high school. Those who were once associated with them seemed to watch from the sidelines. Axel came again and again into Chili's in a poor attempt to gather a certain person's attention, but after just receiving constant glares from him, he slowly started to stop his efforts. He had to just settle for being in his presence, but as fate would persist, he couldn't have that either. Roxas left Chili's in a teens mind, set on change. He needed some new scenery, one that wasn't so… red. It seemed like such a long year for those who were once close to each other, but as for those who stayed together, it seemed not as picture perfect.

"Hey kiddo, I haven't seen much of you lately! Wanna catch a movie and get some ice cream?" Lately, it seemed as though Sora was always out doing something. It was as if when Sora said he was going to start acting his age that night, he had kept to his promise.

"Sorry, I'm going to the mall with my friends, my friend's mom is picking me up. And Riku, I've been meaning to talk to you about something." Riku's heart dropped at the sound of those words, knowing all too well the effect of their last little talk. Hoping it wouldn't be something as dramatic as 'I'm too old for a caretaker, Riku,' he crossed his fingers and waited.

"Yeah kiddo?"

"Could you stop calling me that?"

"Calling you what?"

"Kiddo. It has kid in it and _clearly_ I'm not a _kid_ anymore, at least I won't be as of Wednesday next week. And also Riku, STOP ruffling my hair, especially around my friends. Last time you did that, they wouldn't get off my back for like 3 days. You just seriously need to stop embarrassing me in front of them and just leave us alone. I don't mind hanging out with you Riku it's just you overreact to everything and you're just such a little bitch lately."

"SORA! Where the _hell_ did you hear that word!?"

"… Where the _hell_ do you think, Ri-ku?"

"Don't even try to give me that smart ass attitude."

"And you're telling me to watch my mouth? I'm 13, I can say whatever I want."

"You're 12."

"13 in like 9 days so same difference."

"Not really…"

"You just don't understand Riku, just leave me the fuck alone!" Storming out the front door, Sora sat on the front step, waiting for his ride but not before hearing Riku shouting back.

"Watch your god damn mouth Sora!" Relaxing his head into the palm of his hand, he continued to himself. "Holy fuck, when did the hormone train come rolling in…" Hearing the sound of applause, Riku lifted his head and turned around, staring what he now considered death straight in the eye.

"Bravo, brilliantly played, my friend. You sure handled that situation wonderfully. _You told him_. Or the other way around, I'm not quite sure yet. He stormed out angry so I think it might have been him." Taking a long gulp, Riku shuffled his feet until he worked up the courage to speak.

"Umm… How long have you been standing there…?"

"I've only been standing here for a minute or two, but I've been listening for a good 10… in my office… through my headphones."

"Were we that loud?"

"Unfortunately. He is his mother's son, which means he can yell like the best of them, which may not be a good thing in your case."

"Listen sir, I'm sorry, that probably made me sound really bad with all the yelling and everything and crap, I'm not gonna lose my job, am I?" With a hearty chuckle, Sora's father looked Riku in the eyes with a stern smile.

"Riku, it's going to take a lot more than that to get you fired from this place. You and Sora may not get along very well during the day, but I know at night he wouldn't wanna spend it with anyone but you. He may be stubborn and a little _hormonal_ as you put it, but no matter what he says, that kid looks up to you more than you think."

"Really?"

"Really. Just wait till he gets home and see. I bet you won't be surprised." But Riku was surprised… very surprised. Because Sora didn't come home that night. At least not when he said he would, which was at 9. Sighing to himself, he couldn't help but wish that Sora's father hadn't intervened and raised his bedtime to 10 a few months ago. Looking up at the clock, he saw 9:47, shook his head out of worry and pushed himself out of the chair. He began pacing, wondering where he could be and when nothing came to him, made a mental note to get him a damn cell phone for his birthday... or a walkie talkie or something, hell, 2 tin cans with a string would work too as long as they would get him in touch with Sora. He sat back down and turned the T.V. on, determined to wait until he came home and was surprised when he felt a light touch on his shoulder.

"He's not coming home tonight." It was said in a whisper, right by his ear causing the hair on the back of Riku's neck to stand up on ends. Slowly turning around, he made eye contact with Sora's mother, someone he found that unlike a year ago, he didn't like all the much.

"What do you mean he's not coming home?"

"Seems the boy made some friends… He called about an hour ago while you were out getting dinner with a friend to say he'd be sleeping over at his friend's house. I had him practically begging before I finally gave into that whiney voice of his. I bet I could have you begging if you wanted to play a little… game."

"_Sora_ wouldn't beg, especially not to you and he doesn't have a whiney voice… and is he really not… coming home?" Thinking back to all the nights that Riku had gone and gotten drunk on his day off and not come home, he suddenly had an idea of how Sora felt. Laying around and not knowing until it was too late was definitely not something that Riku enjoyed.

"Why would he? He's all grown up now, remember? The big 1-3."

"He's not 13. He's still 12 for 9 more days."

"Tomato, tamato, either way he's getting older by the day. Soon enough, he'll be able to take care of himself and he won't need _you_. You might wanna take advantage of the opportunities here while there's still time." Sliding onto a cushion on the sofa next to Riku, she propped her legs up, crossing them and leaned forward with a smirk. Riku started to lean in as well, only to stop midway.

"Do you really think that?"

"Think? I know. For a fact. Don't try to be so modest Riku, I've had time to observe you." Standing up she gallantly walked over to the bar and started to pour herself a drink, stopping before taking a sip to look at Riku. "Oh dear, did you want one?"

"You know I'm only 20. Don't pretend you don't."

"And you know that you have never followed that rule before." With a smirk, she pulled out a second glass and started pouring another drink. Defeated, Riku sighed. Walking over with a sway in her step, she sat down on the coffee table in front of Riku, handing him the other drink. "Cheers my dear."

"Cheers _Mrs. Devane_."

"Shirin dear, Shirin."

"Whatever you say… Shirin." Throwing the drink to the back of his throat, he finished it in one swift gulp.

"Another?" She quirked an eyebrow and began to stand, making her way back towards the bar.

"Nah, trying to cut… back…" Riku's words grew longer as his eyes shifted from Mrs. Devane to the floor, which had a stream of light on it from an opened door. Looking up, he saw Mr. Devane's office door creaked open and then slowly shut all within a second. Suddenly, he didn't feel so alone. Noticing Riku's gaze was away from her, she pivoted on her heel, catching a final glimpse of the door closing. When she turned back to Riku, he was on his feet.

"I should probably go to bed." Walking over to the bar and setting down the empty glass, he quickened his pace as he went upstairs. As the sound of footsteps grew fainter and fainter, the office door quietly swung open. Mrs. Devane turned around once more, noticing a silhouette leaning against the doorframe of the office which was previously shut off from the rest of the house.

"That went well, darling." Mr. Devane looked his wife up and down with a cocked eyebrow and laughed to himself at the sight of her lingerie. "Haven't seen that get up in awhile."

"Shut up." Slamming her glass down on the bar, it all but shattered as she attempted to huff past her husband.

"Don't handle rejection well _Mrs. Devane_?"

"Don't you have something you should be doing? Counting numbers? Looking at porn? Satisfying yourself because I won't and you know no one else would?"

"Oh Shirin, someone's feisty tonight. Haven't seen this side of you in awhile. Is makeup sex included in this package? How much will it cost me this time? A new dress? Pearl earrings? Diamond necklace?"

"Please, I was born a Lewis, we don't sink that low."

"Really? 'Cause that Tiffany's bracelet on your wrist says otherwise." Knowing very well she was defeated, she stomped her foot and with a flick of her wrist made her way out of the room, mumbling loud enough for him to hear.

"Can't stand that man anymore, no respect. Who does he think he is?" With a chuckle, Mr. Devane turned around and headed back to his office. He had phone call to make that was long since overdue.

Around 11:30, a buzz from under his pillow woke Riku with a jump. Looking at the time, he began to wonder who could be calling him now and then realized it wasn't even midnight. When he didn't recognize the number on the screen, he cleared his throat and answered.

"Hello?"

"Riku?" A hushed voice called out on the other line.

"Yeah?"

"Can you come get me?"

"Sora!?"

"Yeah, it's me. Can you come or not?"

"Why? I thought you were sleeping over at your friends house."

"It smells weird here and they want me to share a bed with him and I know I won't be able to sleep!"

"You share a bed with me all the time, what's the difference?"

"There's a lot of difference! Can you just come! Just call back and say that like my hamster died or something, please!"

"Alright, alright, calm down. Where's your friend live again?" In the ten minutes it took to take his phone call, Riku had instructions to the house and was grabbing his keys, getting ready to leave. Before he stepped outside the house, he got a glimpse of light still on beaming through the cracks of the office doors. With a quick background check, he noticed that Mrs. Devane was nowhere to be found. With a sigh, he walked out the door and was on his way to pick up Sora.

Half an hour later, two figures were practically sneaking into the house, hoping their foot steps made no noise at all. Riku closed the door extra slowly, making a mental note that some things just don't get quieter if they move slower. Giving the door lock a twist, Riku stood there for a moment letting his eyes adjust before reaching a hand out to find Sora. He grabbed his shoulder and they both stumbled up the stairs down the hall to Riku's room, then closing the door before allowing the light to flicker on. Sora who was already dressed in his pajamas just bounced onto the bed, pulling the covers down then nuzzling himself under them, wasting no time in making himself comfortable.

"Well you seem like you are tired," Riku noted to Sora who's eyes fluttered open to look back at Riku, who coincidentally was taking his shirt off. He threw it to the floor and did the same with his pants leaving a pale silhouette in Sora's vision. Every curve, bruise, and muscle perfectly showing in the florescent glow of the overhead light, leaving only a small portion of his body still undercover by his black boxers.

"I am tired…" Sora's voice stuttered a bit, either from the grogginess of the time or what his vision was examining.

"Then why couldn't you sleep?" Riku sat next to Sora on the bed but was not yet laying down.

"'Cause… our promise. I made you promise to sleep with me every night, and I can't be the one to break that. And I… well its not the same with someone else." As Sora came closer to end of his words, the blanket got closer and closer to covering his full face, an attempt to hid the shame of how little and childish he felt.

"Don't worry about that. Our promise still stands, you can spend nights at your friends house, and remember you weren't the only one to agree to the terms." Walking over to the switch, Riku flicked it off and then back to his bed, slipping under the covers next to Sora. Sora just laid there on his back, eyes still open staring at the ceiling.

"Riku?"

"Mhm?"

"You aren't mad at me, are you?" Turing to his side, Sora made it to where he faced Riku, but when he noticed Riku was also on his back he started to lift his body at an angle then leaned perfectly over Riku's. This way he could get a perfect view of Riku's face.

"Why would I be mad at you, Sora?" Opening his eyes, he saw the little face looking much bigger due to the close proximity of the boys, close enough to see each other in the dark.

"We got into a fight earlier."

"Sora, it's okay, I'd never hold anything against you. People argue, it's in the past now. It's fine." If the light were on, then Riku could see the slight film of water covering Sora's eyes. He knew what to say to make any negative thoughts wash away from his mind. Sora was older now, much more mature and understood certain things about life, but when it came to Riku, he felt like he was so small, so insignificant to him. He never knew what the best way to thank Riku was. He remembered back when he was little and how he kissed him that one time in the tent, but he was much older now, or so he thought, and kisses seemed to gain more value. Yet it just seemed so, so perfect to imitate his acts from before. Still leaned over Riku, whose eyes even now were focused upon him, Sora just went for it. Catching his lips in a peck, long enough to taste those lips, to taste the flavor he now could understand and memorize fully, but short enough to not seem so significant, or that's what Sora thought. Pulling away Sora cuddled close to Riku's arm, grabbing it like a bear and then muttered a goodnight.

"Night Riku!" Eyes closed, he felt a hand upon his chin, pulling his face up once again. Unknown to him what Riku was doing, he kept his tight grip on his arm and opened his eyes. Without so much as a warning, Riku had placed his lips upon Sora's like they were just moments ago, but why?

"Night."

--

Quota bumped to 11... this was a good idea...


	11. Realizations

SO WE KNOW THAT WE SAID 11 REVIEWS BUT YOU GUYS WERE REALLY SPEEDY AND WE WEREN'T.  
But we got it now, soo yay :) Really good chapter we think, pretty long. Things are coming about, drama. Drama mama.

Disclaimer: This is bolshevic.

--

A deep breath of air and the smell of honey and sleep traveled through Riku's nose as he happily nuzzled Sora's hair, for once not jumping away startled from waking up so close to him. Glancing over Sora's head at the clock, he saw that it was around 10 and smiled when he looked down to see the brunette still sleeping the morning away in his arms. Even though the two slept in the same bed every night, they were usually laying on opposite sides of the bed, back to back, each of them trying to keep their distance. Sora trying to keep Riku comfortable and Riku trying to prevent any… inappropriate thoughts from entering his head. However, something took over Riku this morning, causing him to pull Sora tighter against his chest in a possessive hug. Just when he thought that nothing could go wrong, God just had to prove him wrong and send vibrations throughout the bed. Quickly grabbing the phone, he put on a groggy voice and answered the phone in a hushed tone.

"Hello?"

"_Hey Riku! Its Dem, I work the late shift, I was hoping you'd wanna catch lunch or something before then. I haven't seen you in a while!"_

"Demy? Yeah, that'd be cool." Looking down at his little companion buried up under his arms, concaved in their body heat, he continued to speak. "I'm assuming we'd go to Chili's, right?"

"_Yeah, we'd only have time to eat then I'd have to work."_

"So, you want me to meet you up there?" Riku's shoulder held his phone up to his ear as he talked with a soft tone into the speaker while simultaneously, he brushed his fingers through Sora's bed head.

"_Heh, you know me too well. So see you in a bit?"_

"Yeah, I'll be there. Just let me shower and get ready." Sliding out of the covers Riku carefully lifted himself with his arms, trying to use the least amount of movement possible, hearing through his phone a chuckle from the other end.

"_So in that case you should say see you in an hour, then."_

"Shut up! I'll call when I get there. I'm sure you'll be fine at your work."

"_Well, when you look at it like that, but what if this was a date? I'd feel like you'd forgot or stood me up!"_

"Well, it's a good thing I'd never date a crazy bitch like you."

"_HEY!"_

"Chill man, I gotta go get ready." A chipper okay followed as they both hung up their lines. Riku was trying to cover Sora back up to where he'd still be warm and stood there staring at the sleeping child. He looked so young, laying there, eyes closed, and with only small strides of sun spilling through the blinds of the window over his tan skin. It looked so, so good for a teen, but not just in a smooth and clean way, in taste as well. His skin already had the sun kissed, honey color to it and Riku had just noticed that when the sun hits it, just like it was now, it has an essence that was to Riku, something unexplainable. His gaze couldn't last forever, as it may have felt in the slight seconds he stood there. Riku jumped to get ready, slapping a piece of paper on the nightstand before sliding out the door and leaving Sora there, still asleep, basking in the sun drenched covers.

"So where's Axel?" Riku had only just walked into Chili's before spotting Demyx and taking his seat across the table.

"Well don't you get straight to the point, not even a 'Hey, how are you Dem?'" Turning his head to the side, he muttered to himself something that sounded like "so easy to replace…" With a sniffle, he turned back to Riku with a smile. Laughing in Demyx's face, Riku's face turned solemn a second later.

"Seriously though man, where is he?"

"I don't know, he hasn't come around here much anymore, especially since Roxas quit."

"Roxas quit?"

"Wouldn't you if the guy who took advantage of you kept showing up where you worked? Or at least that's how Rox saw it."

"But… wait… Didn't Axel like Roxas?"

"Yeah, doesn't he like anyone he hooks up with?"

"I mean like… more obsessive like… Like back when he had that hot teacher in high school, remember that?"

"Mrs. Johnson? She was damn fine… Too bad her husband found out."

"Yeah, but besides that, remember how obsessive he was?"

"Well yeah, I guess I can see the similarities, but that ship set sail a long time ago. He's probably off drunk somewhere like a… like a… hillbilly or something. You know, living under a bridge."

"… Really?"

"No, not really… But he is probably drunk."

"We should go talk to him. Roxas should go talk to him… Where is chick ass?"

"Starbucks."

"Which one…?"

"Right across the street!" Smiling up at the waitress and ordering quickly, he handed her the menu before returning his bubbly gaze back to Riku.

"I'll have a coke." Writing on her notepad, the waitress looked down at Riku to reassure that she got the right order.

"So a kids rib basket from Demyx," Demyx giggled before allowing the waitress to continue, "and a coke for you!"

"… I wanna kids rib basket. And I said Dr. Pepper."

"I thought you said coke, sweetie?"

"… No." Turning his attention back to Demyx, they continued their conversation. "Seriously though? Across the street? Why didn't Axel look there?"

"Lazy? I don't know, he gave up after begging me for like 5 minutes then said he needed a drink, I mean, what else is new? Anyway, I PROMISED Roxas I wouldn't tell anyone where he went… Shit. You can't. Tell. Anyone."

"… Okay?"

"But since you're in the circle now, go over there and get me a mocha latte. It should be free."

"Why, do you and Roxas have some sort of deal?"

"No…"

"Then what if I don't get it for free."

"Well, it'll be free for me… 'cause either way, you're paying." Giggling to himself again, he licked his lips as the waitress approached with his ribs.

"I can't go now, my ribs are here!"

"Don't worry Riku, I'll eat them for you."

"No, fuck that!" Possessively, Riku pulled his hot plate towards him, encasing it in his arms. "My ribs." Eventually, Demyx gave into Riku's pleas to eat first and to go to Starbucks later. Once they had finished, they parted, each going their separate ways, Demyx to the back and Riku to Starbucks. As he walked in, he made eye contact with a short blonde and then smiled. Riku casually walked over and stood in line behind a man who seemed desperate for his latte with 8 changes to make it just right, but Riku still didn't falter to take his eyes from the blonde. After serving the man, he walked back to the cash register and lifted his head and sighed.

"What can I get for you today?" Roxas forced a crooked smile that didn't look even the slightest happy.

"Well, well, don't look overjoyed to see an old friend."

"My bad… What have you been up to Riku?"

"Well, I just had lunch with Dem Dem before I headed over here." He lifted a hand and waved his fingers to follow his words then started to scratch his cheek as Roxas spoke abruptly.

"DEMYX?" then muttering under his breath, he cursed to the high heavens. "… Stupid Demyx, he fucking broke our promise. Fucking promise breaker…"

"Yeah… Speaking of that, apparently I'm in some circle of trust, blah, blah, blah and that I get free Starbucks now."

"Fine, but you have to not tell anyone where I am." He slumped his shoulders as Riku lifted a brow.

"Now who would I tell?" Quickly, he shifted his eyes left and right to pretend to investigate some people who could possibly care where little Roxas worked.

"Please!" Desperately, he slapped both hands on the counter, catching Riku's full attention once again. "You know who, don't act stupid."

"Now besides my free Starbucks, why should I do that?"

"Come on! I'll do anything!"

"Anything… Start making my cameral frappuccino then… Oh and make Sora a chocolate chip one too, and then I won't tell…" Grabbing a cup and turning some machine on, Roxas looked up at Riku, both furiously and thankful, but before he could state any of these thoughts, Riku spoke again. "BUT you will."

"Will what?"

"I won't tell this certain person, but you will."

"NO, the fuck I will!"

"Okay, you don't have to tell him where you work, but you _will_ be conversing with him."

"Why?"

"Because, he needs it. I heard he turned into some drunk hillbilly and-" Cut short from his sentence, Roxas slammed a frappuccino on the counter and gave a dark glare toward Riku.

"SO… What's changed then? Sounds to me like he's still a selfish, stuck up, drunken man whore who only cares about a lay."

"You need to calm the fuck down and make my other frappuccino for one and for two, that's one of my fucking best friends and I don't appreciate you talking about him like that." Taking the already made drink and placing a straw into the top then puckering his lips, he tasted it. Roxas closed his eyes and took a deep breath, grabbing a second cup.

"Okay I'm sorry, but I don't see why me talking to that crazy red head will help."

"You stupid child..."

"Excuse me?"

"You don't understand, he's paying for his mistakes the only way he knows how, and that happens to involve the amount of alcohol in his blood, that's not only illegal to drive, but to do anything productive. Basically, he'll drink himself stupid in a way or you could say, so drunk he can't think, whatever you prefer."

"Wasn't he already like that when I met him?"

"He hasn't been sober since like October of last year, a month after that party. This is a different drunk." Their eyes met at a certain gaze that could only be described as honest. Riku dropped all jokes in the last few sentences while Roxas was for once seriously curious to hear about someone who for just a night, seemed to captive his every emotion that others found hard to muster.

"Well, what did you want me to do?"

"Obviously I want you to go and talk to Axel. He's kinda locked him self from society, become anti-social. No one has really seen him in a while, I think he needs some human contact and that should be you."

"Well I have a date tonight so I don't know…"

"Fine, not tonight, but you will eventually." Grabbing both of his frappuccinos, he gave Roxas a wink and turned to leave just as another Starbucks employee walked up to the blonde still standing there stupefied. She looked at the register and then started to speak.

"You forgot to charge him."

"Oh it's okay, he's a friend and he gave me something instead of cash."

"Like what?"

"Just some information I've wondered about for some time now. Excuse me for a sec." Walking to the back, Roxas pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number, quietly listening to the constant rings until a voice was heard on the other end. "Hey, listen for a second… So about tonight…"

Clenching his eyes together in an attempt to regain his current state of sleep, Sora slowly pulled himself away from dreamland. Something in the room was different and he couldn't place his finger on it. Eyes still closed, he heard the quiet noise of a drink being sucked through a straw, which gradually grew louder as the last of the liquid left the cup. Finally giving up on trying to go back to sleep, he uncurled his legs in an attempt to straighten them out, but was stopped when they hit something solid. Opening his eyes, he lifted his head to look at Riku, who had perched himself at the end of the bed, and was currently attempting to throw down any of the drink that the straw couldn't reach.

"Riku? What're you doing?"

"Drinking a frappuccino. I got you one too! But I finished mine on the way home… and it was hot and I was walking home and I didn't want yours to melt soo I drank yours, too. But I was _thinking_ of you the whole time. Didn't you get my note?" As Riku stood up, he walked over the place a kiss on Sora's forehead, but apparently little Sora had other things in mind. Waiting until Riku was almost to his forehead, he quickly slid his head back, replacing what would be his forehead with his own lips before leaning his head back down and giggling. Shaking his head with a chuckle, Riku turned around to walk towards the door but was stopped when Sora began to speak.

"You left me a note?"

"Yeah I left you a note. You know its like, noon, right? Do you want me to make you a sandwich or something?"

"A sandwich? Can't we just go to McDonalds?"

"Well I just had Chili's so I'm not rea-"

"Chili's!? Why didn't you invite me!?" By now, Sora was out of bed, standing clad in his undershirt and boxers, distracting Riku for a split second before he snapped out of it.

"'Cause you're lazy ass slept all day! And I _did_ invite you!... in the note. It said you could meet me there if you wanted."

"Where is this note? I bet you scribbled something down and put it on the table just now. I bet you were planning this the whole time. You didn't want me to wake up and read it 'cause there'd be nothing to read." Riku sighed in defeat at Sora's rambling.

"Do you _really_ wanna go to McDonalds that bad?" Crossing his arms and huffing in and out, Sora slowly evened out his breathing.

"Well, no, I mean we don't have to…"

"Okay then I'll just make you a sandwich." Whipping his arms away from his body, he ran up to Riku, grabbing his shoulders and shaking, a maniacal look on his face.

"No Riku! I don't want a sandwich, please, anything but a sandwich!"

"Fine, I'll take you to McDonalds, but you gotta shower first. I'm not taking a skanky little kid like you out."

"I'm not skanky, if I were skanky I'd do this!" Standing on his tip toes, he laced one hand through Riku's hair and placed the other on the back of his neck, pulling him down into what would be a small, innocent kiss if it weren't for the fact that Riku could've sworn he felt Sora's tongue on his lip. All too soon however, the kiss had ended and Sora was skipping down the hall. "Be back soon!" At hearing the bathroom door slamming, Riku turned around and scratched his head.

"I wanna shower… with him... Shit, he's ." Repeating Sora's soon to be age to himself over and over, Riku paced the room before settling himself on the bed again and waiting for the brunette to return. "Where did he learn to use his tongue?" Riku blurted out to himself, questioning Sora's clearly newfound secret. He'd have to ask him something about that later…

On the other side of town, another door slammed shut. Roxas was making his way up a steep flight of stairs before he found himself standing outside of an apartment he had hoped to put behind him. Sighing to himself, he attempted to work up the courage to knock on the door. In all honesty, he didn't know what was holding him back. He didn't have anything to be afraid of. It had been months ago, practically a year, and he had gotten over it, hadn't he? He wasn't the one that was a jerk that was only interested in ass. He wasn't the one that couldn't remember. He was the one that got hurt. He was the one that genuinely thought that something good could have come out of going to that damn party. But he was over it now, right? He had gone on dates, gone to other parties, met other people. He was over the sad bastard, but no matter how many times he told himself that, he still couldn't bring himself to get his second kiss and he _still_ couldn't bring himself to knock on that damn door. All thoughts however came to a stand still as he saw a flash of red through a crack in the curtains and his heart stopped. Not soon after, the sound of glass shattering was heard and a "fuck" vaguely made its way through the cracks in the doors. Worry overtaking his hesitation, he began knocking hard.

"Axel?"

"Go the fuck away!" was the drunken response he received.

"Axel, just open up!"

"How about you just go the fuck away? Yeah, let's do that!"

"C'mon Axel, it's Roxas." Listening closely, Roxas heard hysterical laughter from the other side of the door.

"Ha-ha-ha. That's a real _fucking_ funny joke, aren't you a god damn comedian!"

"No, it's really me!" After hearing silence, Roxas shook his head, not knowing what to do. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he felt a napkin. Thanking the Gods that he stuck in it there during work, he pulled out a pen and began writing a note. Once finished, he looked around for something to stick it to the door with, but found nothing before realizing he was chewing gum. Taking the gum and putting it on the back of the napkin, he smushed it down on the front door, creating a small "thud" before walking off. Axel's ears perked up at the sound of the thud. He had thought that whoever was bothering him had already left. Tripping over to the door, he opened it, looking left and right, laughing to himself when he saw no one. About to turn around and return to his cocoon of alcohol, he noticed a white paper stuck to the door. Leaning in closer, he squinted his eyes, trying to make out the chicken scratch.

"'I tried. Some effort in return would be nice. Try some coffee to clear your head.'? What the fuck kind of note is that?" After plucking the note off the door and examining it a second longer, he stretched his neck out to look over the ledge of the building. Stumbling forward, his knee made contact with the cement, letting a yelp escape from his lips. This small sound somehow was enough though for the blonde to turn around and look up directly into piercing green eyes. Roxas took in the sight before him: Greasy hair that was limp against Axel's back and forehead and a pale complexion, along with bloodshot eyes and extreme black circles. Shaking his head in defeat, he broke contact and returned to his car.

"I tried," he yelled up before closing the door and starting the engine. Looking down at him with sad eyes, for the first time since this whole incident began, Axel finally began to see the depth of what was going on. He was fucked. He was shit out of luck. Reaching up to rub his eyes, he pulled away when he found them wet. He was crying? Pushing his hair back with his fingers, he sharply gasped for breath, trying to hold back anymore tears that might be coming.

"Fuck."

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Quota: 12! Don't judge us.


	12. Step 1: Confrontation

FYI, this is going to be a RikuSora story. I don't know what's going on with some people that have been like "wtf" but Sora isn't going to mysteriously age 5 years while Riku doesn't, therefore sorry, but the age difference stays.

We did our homework for this one and looked up signs of alcoholics :D Yay!

By the way, this is early. We had a quota of 12 reviews, but we wanted to post this so happy birthday... lucky bitches.

Disclaimer: One of these days. sinister laugh

**Edit!: Thanks to starry-nights88 it has been brought to our attention that for awhile, this chapter was the same as chapter 13. I know none of y'all will probably come back and read it, BUT the point is that here is the real chapter :)**

**P.S:We used to have the chapters numbered minus the author's note in the middle, but that got a little confusing so we took that out. Just go by what FanFic puts up there :D**

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It wasn't much later that Riku received a phone call from a very upset blonde. In fact, he had called about 24 hours after their meeting the other day, which was to Riku, kinda unexpected from how stand offish he had acted. He didn't have much to say through the line, but enough to make a point.

"Roxas, I'm shocked. Actually, I'm extremely shocked in fact. That was, well, much faster than, well-"

"_Shut up. It's your turn to be quiet and listen."_

One could guess from Roxas' voice that he wasn't that pleased. As a matter of fact, he was quite the opposite. His voice was full of rage and tears, sniffles and hard swallows to clear his throat before speaking. His words trembled and sounded darker and deeper inside his throat as he kept describing his experiences, words barely coughing their way out.

_"I went to see him yesterday."_

"Really? You did? How'd it go?"

_"Let's just say, not as you explained."_

"Well, I did tell you he was turning into a-"

_"MUCH WORSE! So much worse…"_ Riku had no choice but to sit and listen to Roxas spill for the first time to anyone about someone who could capture any heart, but in different ways of course. Axel, you see had a bit of a reputation. No matter how hard Axel would try to avoid it, once set in stone, there was no leaving it and Axel set his in stone a long time ago.

_"I couldn't even stay... It was hard to even look at him when he finally opened the door. He, he…"_

People knew Axel and most of the time, well about every account was a good one. He had some strange sense to him people liked. From graduates to those just coming into college, they all knew Axel's name, and most certainly his parties.

_"HE LOOKED SICK! It was disgusting, he was so unrecognizable. I know I didn't know him as well as others, but I knew him enough to know when he's had one drink, smoke, whatever just one too many, and he passed that salvation a long time ago from the look of him."  
_  
Axel had a knack for throwing the most unbelievable, unmistakably amazing parties, without even trying. He had anything and everything you could think of at his parties, and at each one of his astounding parties, as I assure would be guessed, whether due to the amount of alcohol or other uses to untie peoples senses, they all eventually lost it. The difference between Axel's friends and acquaintances he made throughout his span of parties and school was how they perceived him.

"Roxas… I'm, I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

_"I'm still not done…"_ And unfortunately for Roxas, he was one of the first to actually look at Axel. Not as a friend or a great lay or even a party goer, but as more, well as he was or could be. Most people saw Axel as a sort of God, someone worth praising, yes, but they never saw outside of his cup of tea. He was sober more than others thought, but it didn't matter because they never saw him so far gone like everyone else could get at his parties. Not only was his tolerance level something they admired, but his parties aura's as well. Relationships were crushed and new ones formed at his parties just like other parties, but the distinction between any other party where that happened and Axel's was that at an Axel party, those cracks in people never ended badly. Despite any situation.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to be a good friend."

_"Well, next time you want to be a "good friend", I would suggest that you go and see him first for yourself. That way you can make sure that before you send someone else to see him, he is quite capable of handling it. Because in case you hadn't figured it out, it becomes increasingly difficult to see someone you care about that messed up. Think about it Riku, what if you were me and someone you honestly cared for was __**that fucked up**__, how'd you handle it?"_

Riku lifted his glazing eyes up to peak through the spaces of air to where Sora sat across the room on the sofa. He was watching TV and must have felt Riku's eyes on him, because he suddenly twisted his head over in Riku's direction. Assured that he was looking, Sora smiled a smile that could only brighten someone's heart, and then like he had been hit with an arrow, Riku understood. There was no need to explain. It was obvious as soon as he placed his gaze upon Sora. It made things clear. Sora squinted his eyes and stood up making his way toward Riku. "You know, you're right, and I swear I'll come up with a way to make that up to you… I gotta go now though, I'll talk to you later." Flipping his cell phone closed, he placed it inside his pocket just as Sora made it to him. Riku was perched on the stairs, sitting as if they were multiple seats stacked on top of one another. Sora bunched up his nose and made a crooked smile at Riku, who in response just laughed.

"Who were you talking to?" Sora asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"A friend." Riku smiled and slid his hands onto Sora's hips just above his hands and started to pull Sora ever so slightly forward to close the gap between them.

"That's not a good answer. You left me alone on the sofa, watching TV by myself to answer your phone and all I can know is that it was 'a friend'. I demand to know more Ri-ku." By this point, Riku had his hands completely wrapped around Sora and his fingers laced behind his back. Chuckling Riku attempted to explain himself.

"It really is nothing, whiney baby."

"I'm not a baby!" Crossing his arms and huffing his breath, Sora lifted his chin away from Riku who just lifted one arm to Sora's face, grasping his chin. He tilted it down toward his own, not too far from his eyes to where he couldn't view his full face, but close enough to smell his honey skin and just gave him a soft smile. Sora began to blush furiously at the closeness of them and suddenly pulled himself from Riku's grasp and few steps back. "What were we talking about?" Sora honestly asked, placing a hand on the crick of his neck, messing with the hairs there.

"How I got to go see an old friend."

"Oh! Can I come too?!" His bright smile appeared once again.

"Sorry, not this time, kiddo."

"WHAT! Why not? I can handle any of your friends you know, it's not like I'm 10," Sora said, pushing his face forward and lifting a finger in an informing way, waving it in Riku's face, who just chuckled again at Sora's silly tactics.

"Just trust me, not this time, but next time I promise I'll bring you. Your dad is in his office if you need to call me. He has my cell number, okay?" Placing his hand on Sora's head, he shuffled his hair. Just before Riku opened the door to leave, he felt arms around his waist and looked down to see Sora's sleeves.

"You'll be back before bed time, right?" Riku slowly attempted to turn around to where their chests where facing each other in a possessive hug. Then as soon as Riku stopped turning, Sora barely left room for him to leave his grasp, pulling Riku closer right to the point where their chests were touching, or would be if they were the same height.

"Of course." Riku managed to pull himself apart enough to find Sora's face and once again grabbed his chin. After kissing Sora's forehead, Riku pulled away then made his way back to Sora's face and kissed the top of his nose, and each time he placed a kiss, Sora just shut his eyes, enjoying the heat he felt himself emanating. He must have created a new shade of red for that second time when Riku looked at him. He chuckled a bit, causing Sora to bust his eyes open, in fear he did something wrong. They were practically sharing breaths when Sora opened his eyes to observe how adjacent they had become. He turned his head away from Riku's face and blushed.

"Uh… You better get going then if you're gonna be back before 10." Sora kept his eyes at the floor. Riku just gave a face of empathy and let go of Sora.

"I suppose." But before Riku left, he turned Sora around and grabbed a taste of his plump lips to keep the taste of Sora on him while he walked toward a difficult situation. A kiss with a bit of lip licking, but this time on Riku's part. He turned smiling to himself and left closing the front door behind him and shoving something in his pocket, leaving exasperated Sora standing there alone, redder that a tomato.

At first glance, the day looked nice and Riku couldn't help but think that it would do good for him to walk. A few minutes into that, he changed his mind when he noticed sweat forming on his brow and flagged down a cab. He only got a few brief moments of cool air before he was once again outside, trudging up a flight of stairs. Knocking, he was quickly greeted with a familiar face.

"Roxas!?" Axel's eyes had a glimmer of hope in them that had died down when he realized it was Riku.

"Ooh, heard that didn't go too well."

"You talked to him!?"

"Yeah, you don't look _nearly_ as bad as he led you on to be. Have you cut back on the drinking?" A sarcastic smile was playing on Riku's lips, trying to add an ounce of relief to the seriousness of the conversation.

"No… What do you think?"

"I think you got laid."

"No. Maybe. I don't know, but my sheets are dirty."

"You know, that's probably not a good way to get Roxas back…" By now, Riku had weaseled his way around Axel and was standing in the middle of what he could have sworn used to be his kitchen. He wasn't too sure anymore. There were too many empty liquor bottles and too much trash covering the floor to be able to tell.

"Why do you _always_ gotta bring him up Ri, huh!? Have you ever thought that I don't give a damn about that stupid little cute blonde ass of his!? Have you ever thought that I just don't!?"

"Have you ever thought that you don't look too convincing right now!?" Leaning forward a bit, Riku squinted his eyes and began waving his hand in front of Axel's face. "Actually," he began, "have you thought at all the past couple months?" Plopping down on a sofa, Axel squirmed for a minute, trying to get comfortable before reaching under him and pulling out the source of his discomfort. Upon noticing it was a bottle of vodka, he held it up to the light and shook it before shrugging his shoulders and bringing it to his lips. Midsip, he noticed that Riku was staring at him, and he pulled his lips away from the drink, the alcohol still flowing out of the bottle and now running down his chest. He watched with accusing eyes as Riku walked around the room, picking up as much trash as he could before dumping it in a black trash bag that had been thrown on the floor. Walking over the Axel, he snatched the bottle of vodka and finished it off before throwing it in the bag. "You have a problem." Crossing his arms, Axel began to stutter.

"Yeah. Right. _Prove it_." Looking down and realizing that he was covered in alcohol, he wiped his chest off with his hand before bringing it to his face, smelling it and licking it dry. Too stunned by his friends actions, Riku's face was contorted with disgust, lips mouthing "ew". Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small pamphlet and began reading.

"'You know you're an alcoholic when… 1) You have an inability to keep track of your money.'"

"Dude, I have plenty of money, I talked to my mom… She said she'd send me next months money in advance."

"You know it's only like the 3rd, right?"

"Yeah I know, I gotta pay my rent and get some more vodka. I think you just drank my last bottle."

"…'2) Paying bills late. 3) Missing work or school due to alcohol use.'"

"I'm still passing."

"With what!?" Scratching his crotch, Axel thought to himself for a moment.

"Is a 67 passing?" Eyes widening, Riku shook his head and continued to read.

"'4) Continuing to drink even though you realize your job or education is in jeopardy.'"

"Riku, I don't understand why this is relevant, this pamphlet is bullshit, I mean, you're spewing bullshit and this just doesn't apply to me. I don't have a drinking problem."

"… '5) Feeling annoyed when other people comment on, or criticize your drinking habits.'"

"Fuck. You."

"Funny, Roxas was saying something like that the other day after our date." By now, Axel had sat and listened enough. Leaping up, he took large steps over to Riku before pinning him up against the wall with a slam.

"Where the _fuck_ is Roxas?" Smiling smugly to himself, Riku responded.

"I just can't tell you that Axel. I'm in the circle of trust." Axel slammed him up against the wall once more before walking over to a side table and throwing papers on the ground. Finally, he found what he was looking for and walked back over to Riku, shoving the note in his face.

"This was ALL I got, and I don't FUCKING understand it Riku, it's like some god damn Egyptian shit or something, I don't know! Cryptic decoder shit clues, it's bullshit! Fucking god damn teenage bullshit!" Squinting his eyes to focus them, he read the note to himself before laughing.

"Roxas is a sneaky son of a bitch, this is _very tricky_. If you ever get him back, _keep him_, he is a smart boy."

"You know what it means!?" Once again, he grabbed Riku's shoulders, shaking him one last time, only more out of desperation instead of anger.

"Sure Axel. I'll decode it for you. You just gotta do one little thing for me."

"Anything." Smirking, Riku pulled a flyer out of his back pocket and unfolded it before holding it up. "Alcoholics… Anonymous? Really? That's bullshit."

"How far are you willing to go, my friend? The meetings in 2 days at 8… in the morning. I'll be by at 7:30 to get you. If you're not awake, then that's it buddy, I'm not helping you anymore." Shoving the pamphlet and flyer into Axel's hand, he turned around to leave, rubbing the back of his head. "By the way, you should watch where you throw people. Walls? They hurt." Upon exiting, he looked down at his watch, noticing it was 9:40. "Shit, I better hurry, Sora'll kill me if I'm not home by 10… He sounds like _my_ caretaker…"

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Be kind. Rewind... I mean, review! 'Cause you know that quota keeps going up... 13 :D


	13. The Big 13

Hehe, heyyyy guys... So we know this is LONG overdue, but school started and senior year really isn't all it's cracked up to be. :(

Just FYI, we went through and edited a few of the earlier chapters to where Sora started off as just having turned 12 and Riku's about to turn 20 that way this all fits into the whole year thing we have going on.

Disclaimer: Yeah...

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"Ah, there is nothing on TV! I'm so bored!" Falling sideways on the sofa, Sora grabbed a pillow and shoved his face into it. Letting out a huge sigh, he popped his head up suddenly. "What time is it? Riku should be coming home." Looking back toward the TV, Sora read the green numbers on the DVR, "Only 9:30… Ahhh, I'm gonna die from boredom!" His head fell once again, only this time backwards and now his vision was fixated upon the ceiling. He moved his eyes about the walls, examining their white color, after that to the ceiling fan, then after following a blade go round and round, Sora moved his eyes to the top of the entertainment stand, following the wood to the TV for awhile, after finally making it back down to the digital numbers. "Are you kidding? 9:31!? It's been like 5 minutes!" Moans and groans made their way out of Sora's mouth and he shuffled to get comfy on the sofa. His eyes were examining the stitches of the fabric on the sofa when he heard a voice ever so slightly over the TV. Jumping up, he followed it to the hallway and stood, listening. He turned his head to two double doors. One somewhat opened and he soon realized the noise was coming from the other side. Sora popped his head in the doorway and stood there as his dad swiveled in his chair, talking on his cell.

"Yes, it's something I'd prefer to get done with as soon as possible," he chuckled and continued to the other person. "Yes, that's something I thought about and I've done some research to where she doesn't get a dime. I'll send you the information in an e-mail." Finally letting his chair turn all the way around, he noticed little Sora standing there and suddenly sped up his conversation. "Yes, yes, but I have to go it's getting late. Let's met for lunch tomorrow and discuss some more. Yes, goodbye." Placing his phone down, he returned his attention back onto Sora smiling, "Sora, why are you down here? It's getting late. It's already 9:48, you should be getting ready for bed."

"Oh, I know that," Sora said kinda surprised, realizing the time.

"Okay then… are you okay?"

"… Yeah… " His dad crumbled his brow in disbelief and motioned for Sora to come closer to him.

"I don't believe you."

"Well I was bored and then I realized what time it was and Riku isn't home yet even though he said he'd be home by 10 and I'm just worried. I really hope he's on his way home." Spilling in a fast run on sentence, Sora didn't even pretend not to care. His dad only started to laugh, then bent down and pulled a box out of the bottom of a drawer in his desk. It was wrapped in blue paper with a silver bow tied to the top. "What's that?"

"I'm not supposed to give this to you till tomorrow, but I think you need it now."

"I can open it?" Nodding his head, Sora grabbed the gift and ripped the paper and bow off viscously in an attempt to find what lies inside. Once half of the paper was ripped and it had become quite obvious what is was, Sora's eyes widened and looked at his dad.

"Happy Birthday, son."

"A cell phone! Thanks!" He pulled it out and started to examine it.

"I hope you don't mind, but I did open it before you and added two numbers. The first one should be mine and then the next should be Riku's cell." Sora looked in his address book and there like his dad had said was first his number then the second and the last was Riku's. Clutching the cell phone to his chest, he giggled before hugging his dad and relaying his thanks one more time and ran upstairs. Walking into the room he and Riku seemed to share, he sat on the bed and looked down at the phone again, fingers skimming over the dial button, hesitating. Closing his eyes and counting to 3, he pressed the call button before he could change his mind. Holding the phone to his ear, he heard a few rings before an all too familiar voice answered.

"Hello?" Sora had never been on the receiving end of Riku's greeting via phone, but he decided he liked it, although Riku's voice did nothing to hide the confusion from seeing an unknown number calling him.

"RIKU IT'S ME AND GUESS WHAT!" He heard Riku laughing to himself, suddenly realizing who it was. Sora could picture him shaking his head with a smile he loved all too much.

"Gee Sora… I have no idea."

"Well, my dad gave me my birthday present early and it's a phone! With your number! So now I can always call you!" Hearing Riku chuckle yet again, Sora blushed. "Shut up Riku, at least he got me something…" When Riku heard this, he couldn't help but laugh harder. The brunette was clearly fishing for something and Riku could only guess that it was a hint to his present.

"I'm not going to tell you what I got you Sora…" Riku thought to himself for a moment. Being one-upped by Mr. Devane was definitely not on his list of things he wanted done. "At least not everything I got you." Sora giggled in delight and pressed his ear closer to the phone, trying to drown himself in every word Riku said. After a few moments of silence, Sora let out an impatient sigh.

"C'mon!"

"When I get home," and with that, Riku flipped the phone shut, a large smile creeping on his face and he continued walking. Only a few more blocks until he reached what he now considered home and then he'd be able to see the happiness on Sora's face. Sure he had wanted to tell him, but after a few silent moments of debating with himself, he decided he would rather have Sora fling himself into his arms physically rather than just mentally. The rest of the walk seemed to go by fast and before he knew it, he was about to pull the front door open. Just as his hand grasped the handle, the door flung open and Sora stood in front of Riku.

"Where you… watching…?" Riku asked, trying to sound a little creeped out, but in actuality, he was kicking his heels together.

"The faster we get upstairs, the quicker you'll talk." Grabbing Riku by the wrist, Sora managed to drag Riku upstairs. Once they got into the room, he pushed Riku on the bed and climbed into his lap. "Spill."

"Remember when you said you'd never had a birthday party?"

"Yeah…" By this point, Sora was beyond confused.

"Well starting tomorrow, you won't be able to say that anymore! I kind of called some of your friends and told them you were gonna have a surprise birthday party, but I guess the cat's outta the bag now. We're only going to go to the movies though. I would have planned something a little more… extravagant but unfortunately, my paychecks only go so far." By now, Sora had wrapped his arms around Riku's neck. Realizing he had been practically talking to himself since the words "surprise party", he just laughed at himself and wrapped his arms around Sora's waist. A few minutes had passed before Sora pulled away with faint tear streaks marking his face. Riku assumed they were from happiness as he pressed his lips against Sora's forehead. "Now let's get to bed. You've got a big day tomorrow Sora, the big 1-3." With a smile, Sora nodded and crawled into bed, waiting for Riku to climb in next to him. Soon enough, Sora had snuggled his way under Riku's arm and was snoozing away as Riku pet his hair, smiling to himself once again. Once he felt the brunette's breathing even out, he pulled him closer to his chest and kissed the top of his head before nuzzling it with his face and slowly drifting off himself.

The next morning, Sora woke up a bit chilled. For some reason, the bed that he had fallen asleep in wasn't as warm and cozy as it had been that night. He tightened his eyes and rolled over, pulling the blanket from every direction to bring desperately wanted heat back, but he pulled the wrong side and his feet were greeted by the cold brisk air. Jerking his feet back toward his body, he sat up.

"Uhh… What time is it?" Sora began rubbing his eyes to see the digital numbers, and then once he noticed he could see them clearly, it hit him. He could see the clock on the night stand. In fact, he could see the night stand _and_ the end of the bed… Why could he see it? Why is that an issue to Sora? Well, last night there was a body occupying that space, a body that covered Sora's view of the time on the clock and the night stand which it sat on, when he was lying a certain way, a body that hide the floor from Sora's view, and a body that keep him snuggled and warm.

"You're finally up, huh?"

"Riku? Where… Ahh… When did you get up?"

"A while ago, I didn't want to get you up, so I slid out of bed quietly."

"Why?"

"No reason, but you really need to get up." Riku grabbed the covers that were lazily wrapped around Sora and yanked them from him, to introduce his whole body to the cold morning air with a laugh. "Come on Sora, get up!"

"Ahh! It's cold!" He scrambled to the other side of the bed to retain his warmth.

"HAHA, no way Sora get up and take a shower. I'll be back and you _better_ be CLEAN." Then with that, Riku slid his body out the room while shutting the door. At that, Sora crawled off the bed and stumbled to the bathroom. He turned the light on and looked at himself in the mirror after turning the shower on. 'Hmm, I wonder why Riku was up so early.' He brushed his fingers through his knotted hair and sighed. 'I really don't look good right now…' He undressed and hopped into the now steaming shower. Following his usual routine, Sora's thoughts wondered about the day. 'Why do I have to get ready? It's so early. It's like 9:30 or 10 by now, but whatever.' Grabbing the shampoo he squirted too much needed for his amount of hair, but continued to lather his head anyway. 'He just woke me up and didn't even say happy birthday, AND it's a weekend. Why wouldn't he want to cuddle and sleep in with me? I'm adorable!' Rinsing his body from all soaps, he shook his head to remove the last of shampoo before turning the water off. 'Where's my towel?' Stepping out, he stood back up, facing the mirror once again, this time naked and wet as the fog from the shower started to clear . 'Yeah, I'm _sexy_ and now I'm 13. I'm so old and grown up.' Shaking his hair, it popped up to its normal stance. 'Hmph, who could resist this, stupid Riku, ignoring my birthday. I guess I'll just have to show him.' Sora grabbed the handle to the door and with one last glance at himself smirked and open the door only to jump back in surprise.

"Riku?! What are you doing here?" With a laugh, Riku lifted a brow and started to walk over to Sora who only had a towel wrapped around his waist which, he held with one hand.

"I told you I'd be back. Now get dressed."

"Right now?"

"Well, yeah." And at that, Sora dropped his towel right there, Riku only about a few steps in front of him, and just as quickly as it fell off, Riku had wiped his hand over his eyes… sort of. "SORA, NOT NOW!"

"What Riku? You said now."

"Don't be smart and put something on please!"

"What were both men here, don't be such a girl, Ri-ku." Sora started to walk over to his dresser still completely uncovered and opened a drawer. He bent over and started examining the inside. Riku's hand was still attempting to shield his eyes from the underaged, fully exposed body glistening from the water droplets shinning in front of him. Clearly he hadn't seen much of Sora… till now. I mean, Riku could never look at him like that. Not his small back, or his round, rosy butt checks, or even his- shielding eyes! _Shielding eyes!_

"Sora?" Sora turned his body back to face Riku who seemed to still have his eyes closed.

"You know I have boxers on now." Riku slowly opened his fingers to peak through at Sora who was in boxers now, but Riku couldn't complain. It was still a whole lot of Sora he hadn't seen so clearly before, and you better believe how much Riku enjoyed it.

"Oh okay… Well, don't stand there, get _fully_ dressed, unless you plan to go down in your boxers," Riku hinted with a wink while reaching a hand toward Sora's arm, grabbing his elbow.

"RIKU NO! DON'T PULL ME OUT NAKED!"

"Oh Sora, you're not naked _now_, you know you have boxers on." Riku was struggling to move Sora to the door.

"Riku seriously!" Laughing, Riku let go of the red faced brunette who was almost at tears from the fears Riku joked to him.

"It's okay Sora; I would never do anything to you that would make you that uncomfortable." Ruffling his hand through Sora's damp hair, Riku open a small enough crack for just him to squeeze through and did so. After he was out, he poked his head back in for a final gaze upon Sora's half nakedness. "Come down stairs when you're done." Once Riku was gone, Sora waited a few moments before swinging his door back open again.

"A-HA!" But alas, he was greeted by disappointment. 'Oh, Riku really did go downstairs?' Rushing to get his clothes on, Sora stumbled out his door and to the stairs. 'Riku sure is acting funny today, AND he still hasn't said anything about my birthday!'

For being in the middle of the day, the downstairs of Sora's house seemed to be a bit … dark. Sora walked over to the living room where not a single light was on. "Jesus, what are we trying to save electricity or something? I can't see a thing, Riku you in here?" flick

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SORA!"

"Oh my god, Riku! I totally for- ahhh, for me!? A surprise party!?" Sora waved in Riku's direction, winking and mouthing "I got this!" Scanning the room to see who all was there, Sora spotted his revenge on Riku for ignoring him and his hot bod this morning. Light brown hair, slender body, around his height… _perfect_.

"Selphie!" Riku watched as _his_ Sora ran over to a small girl and enveloped her in a bear hug. Narrowing his eyes, he watched them for a few minutes until they headed over his way. "Riku," Sora started with his arm draped around who Riku now considered the tramp, "this is Selphie, she's in my class." Giggling she reached her hand out.

"Hi!" she said in an almost all too excited voice. Staring at the hand, he looked down and locked eyes with Sora. When the death stare was received, he reluctantly grabbed her hand and introduced himself.

"Riku."

"Oh my god, Sora, this is your best friend? He is too cute. How old are you anyway?"

"… Almost 21."

"No way, my step mom's like almost 21 or something like that! Maybe you know her."

"Maybe. Isn't she a little young to be your step mom?"

"Daddy says age is just a number. Anyway, I bet you two go to school together or _something_. Do you know anyone named Kairi?" Riku had to choke back a laugh at the mention of the girls name. Why was he not surprised to hear that Kairi was now a bonafide gold digger?

"Oh yeah… Kairi." Riku chuckled before continuing. "How long have her and your dad been together?"

"Well they've only been married a couple months, but I mean, they've been dating for like 2 and a half years. They never fight either, everything's practically perfect except for once like a year ago when she tried to hook up with some guy. But don't worry, daddy forgave her. You know… _college_." The girl giggled and waved her hand as if she knew anything about the concept of the world outside of 7th grade. Quickly switching his attention back to Sora, Riku began a new conversation.

"So Sora, don't you want to know the rest of your surprise?"

"Oh, there's more!?" Sora replied sarcastically, playing along with his "surprise party".

"Well… We were _going_ to go see a movie."

"Oh my god, Sora, I LOVE movies!" Selphie chirped in and grabbed Sora's arm, jumping up and down.

"No way Selph, I do too! We're sitting together, okay?" He flashed her one of his award winning smiles and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together. "Let's go tell everyone!" On there way to the circle of friends, Riku saw Sora turn around and noticed a glint of amusement in his eyes. 'Shit. What the hell is that kid up to?' he thought to himself as he watched Sora talk to all his other friends, Selphie's hand still in his the whole time.

Mid movie and Riku was no longer looking forward to what Sora was trying to do. A row behind him, he sat not next to his little brunette, but next to some kid named Tidus who wouldn't shut up about blitzball. Blitzball this, blitzball that. It had been going on all movie and by now, Riku was sure he could professionally coach, play, score, _and_ ref the game. Averting his eyes back to the spiky brown hair in front of him and a few seats to the right, his anger grew when he realized that Sora's arm was draped around Selphie's and that her head was snuggled comfortably into the crook of his neck. Practically growling, he crossed his arms and sunk down into his seat, waiting impatiently for the movie to end, then all these brats would leave…

A few hours later, cake, presents and thanks had all been shared and all other underaged bodies had left the premises. Riku's still seemed to have a steamed mood from Sora's little act earlier today. Sitting upstairs on his bed, he had pulled out Sora's actual birthday present. He wanted to give it to him so bad, to see that smile he loved so much that it crinkled his eyes, emotion spreading throughout them as well. But on the other hand, revenge _is_ sweet. He was still debating when Sora came skipping into the room and plopped down next to him.

"Hey Ri-_ku­_."

"Hey."

"What's that?" Sora tilted his head to the side in an adorable puppy dog fashion and Riku couldn't help but give in.

"Your birthday present."

"Well I don't know Riku. It can't be better than what Selphie got me. When you went to the bathroom in the movie," Sora crawled over and whispered in his ear, "we kissed." Sora could practically see the steam coming out of Riku's ears. "Oh but don't worry Riku. No tongue or anything."

"Oh, I get it. In that case, I guess you don't need my present if you're all hooking up with _Selphie_." Her name came out like venom and Sora knew he had gone too far.

"You could have done something you know! You just sat there!"

"I was in the bathroom."

"Oh… I was just kidding… Can I have my present now?" Scooting closer again, Sora moved his lips to Riku's ear, bringing them a little closer than before. "Please?" he whispered. Sighing, Riku handed the small box over and couldn't help the smile that formed on his face when he saw the one on Sora's. As he opened the box, it grew wider. Sora pulled out a silver chain with a silver crown on it and threw himself onto Riku. Letting go, he dropped the necklace over his head and smiled down at it. "This might be better than Selphie's present."

"I thought you said you were kidding?" With a swift jolt, Riku and Sora made eye contact.

"I lied." Before Sora knew what was going on, he was slammed on his back, Riku looking down at him, anger flowing in his eyes.

"What did you say!?" Riku muffled out angrily through his clenched teeth. Stuttering and flushed, Sora looked side to side for an escape route and found none. Looking back into Riku's eyes, he felt his face heat up and he quickly turned away again.

"I, uhh, I-" Sora was cut off when a hand grabbed his face and forced it to look up at him. "Riku?" Before he knew what was going on, he felt Riku's lips on his. Sora was almost positive that this kiss wasn't like any they had ever had before. Their previous ones had been soft and kind, but this wasn't a playful kiss anymore. After a few awkward moments, Sora began to kiss Riku back. Riku took this as indication to go further and ran his lip over Sora's. Gasping, he felt a warm tongue plunge into his mouth. This _definitely _wasn't a playful kiss. With a rush of courage, Sora turned his head away, breathing heavily. "Riku! What are you doing!?"

"I'm just trying to make my present better than Selphie's." Sora didn't have time to prepare himself for Riku's next kiss. All too soon, he found himself with lips pressed against his once again, tongues dancing. Taking advantage of Sora's inexperience and apparent willingness, Riku moved one of his hands down to the hem of Sora's shirt and began to push it up. He stopped when he reached a rosy bud. Riku's fingers felt like ice cubes rolling up his skin. Why was his body so hot? When Riku touched that certain spot, Sora's head thrusted back out of the kiss and into the pillow.

"Riku," Sora panted. "Riku, stop." Kissing Sora's neck, Riku ignored his pleas. "A-aah, no Riku, really, _please_." Riku glared down at Sora before rolling off of him.

"Fine." He scooted over to his side of the bed and got under the covers to fall asleep, back facing the younger boy. Sora crawled over to the other side and settled down. When a few minutes had passed and Riku was still on the other side, Sora felt uncomfortable.

"Riku… aren't you gonna come cuddle with me?"

"I don't know, why don't ask Selphie to cuddle with you? Clearly she's better than I am."

"Why are you getting so pissed over this!? I lied about lying you know." Chuckling to himself and feeling a lot better, Riku pulled Sora closer.

"You are so naïve."

"What's that even mean?"

"Don't worry about it. Just go to sleep." Riku pulled him closer and nuzzled in his hair, scrunching his nose up at the smell of perfume. Instead of starting something yet again, he just brushed it off and hoped all the awkward tension would be gone tomorrow.

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Review quota has been cancelled. Although they're still very much appreciated :D


	14. Everyone's a Little Naive

Dear god this chapter was long.  
You're lucky we stayed up to post it. We have to take the ACT tomorrow and we still put all of y'all first.

I messed up and tried to delete the author's apology... Don't ever do that.  
It kind of screwed up the reviewing, so I hope none of y'all tried to review :( If you did I hope you get a little notice in your email and that you'll read this and review again. :D

And thank you Acherona for pointing it out to me!! I knew I always liked you ;)

Disclaimer: Not ours.

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"N… a… ï… v… e… Take this Riku, I'll shove it back in _your_ face. I am not naïve… whatever that means." Typing the word into google, Sora pressed enter and watched as page after page of websites appeared. After a minute of scanning through them, he clicked on a website he deemed legit enough for his purposes. "Having or showing unaffected simplicity of nature or absence of artificiality… What does that even mean? I'm looking for the definition of one word, not four." He scrolled the page down to look for any other clues to what it could be. "Synonyms: simple, unaffected, unsuspecting, artless, plain. Simple? Plain? I am the most complex, interesting person out there." While Sora was clicking around on the computer, he hadn't heard Riku enter the room. Riku had hoped that things would be back to normal when they woke up this morning and for the most part, they were. He woke up with the cutest brunette in the world cuddling into him as usual. They snuggled together, ate breakfast together, and took turns using the bathroom just like any other morning. It wasn't until they were finally finished with their usual routine that he realized the normally comfortable silence was replaced with a somewhat awkward one. When Sora had excused himself to use the computer, Riku tried to take his mind off the situation. Finally giving up, he walked over to the study and paused outside the door, watching Sora through the crack. After a moment, he walked in behind Sora, making sure his presence was still unknown. He tried to make out what was on the screen but Sora's persistent clicking made it almost impossible. Giving up, he leaned down and made sure he kept his breath quiet before finally speaking.

"What'cha doing kiddo?" Riku could hardly hold back the laughter when Sora jumped a good 2 feet out of his seat, eyes wide with shock. Trying to catch his breath, he pointed a finger at Riku.

"Don't DO that! And _don't_ call me kiddo." Walking over to Sora, he hugged him by the neck and buried his head in his hair.

"Really though," Riku said between nuzzles, "what're you looking at?" Sora huffed defensively and pried himself from Riku's grasp before walking over to the computer.

"You're so _naïve_ if you don't know." Sora prided himself in using his new found word in a sentence, but was quickly brought down when Riku corrected him.

"Uhh, Sora… You're not using the word right. Are you trying to call me ignorant? 'Cause if you are, you should refrain."

"No, I'm calling you naïve."

"… You're not using is right."

"How would you know!?"

"I'm in college Sora, I know plenty of words, and you're not using it right."

"I'm not stupid, I know what it means! I just don't understand why you call me naïve for not knowing why you got so mad yesterday!"

"… Me neither Sora, me neither," Riku replied sarcastically. Sora could clearly tell that Riku was pissed off by now and he watched Riku turn around and walk out of the room. "I have things to do and people to take care of other than you right now Sora." Slamming the door, Riku was out of sight in a matter of seconds, leaving Sora there in the room, swelled up in his definition of a ridiculous fight. 'Why are we even fighting over something so senile. Can Sora seriously not take an insult that badly? And technically, I wasn't insulting him. Being naïve isn't too horrible, I kinda like it. He's just too dense to see that.' Now stomping down the hall, Riku didn't even bother to look back toward the room where he left Sora. Why go back? Why even look back? Sora was having another outrageous teenage mood swing and Riku really couldn't handle that right now. He had to focus. His energy needed to be on another person.

Sora ruffled his brows and swiveled back to face his computer after the door slammed. He sat there staring at the bright screen. His lips unconsciously puckered, his eyes were narrowed, to make a very sour appearance on his face. Looking at the internet, he clicked it and when the definition of naïve came up with it, he slammed his mouse down on the desk then violently closed the internet. Soon after he had jerked his head off to the side, but after sitting there doing nothing, he still had that expression just as sour as ever plastered across his face. His computer emanated that bright glow on his legs and when he noticed it, he looked back up at his computer where now only his background was up. Suddenly Sora's expression changed from a sour one to another. This time, his eyes widened, his lips started to quiver, and he grinded his teeth together strongly. There, on the background of his computer, Sora had his eyes on a picture. Not just any picture though, a picture of Riku and him smiling and hugging, a reminiscence of a previously happy memory. Now even more agitated, Sora brought back his sour face and shoved himself away from the computer after crashing his fists on the desk once again. Only this time Sora's appearance had hot tears falling down his cheeks. Hiccupping, Sora murmured under his breath, "Stupid Riku… Why are you so mad at me?" Then in a short scream and a cry mixed in his voice, he spit out, "I'm sorry, okay!?"

Axel hadn't called Riku or even tried to contact him since the last time they talked. Riku wasn't sure if that drunkard even remembered what he had said to him. He could have been way past gone to remember or even hear him, but Riku wouldn't have those thoughts run in his head. 'Of course he remembered. Whether or not he'll put up a fight about it is a mystery. For all I know, he might not have taken me seriously.' Riku walked up a stairwell to where Axel's apartment was and stood there in front of the door. He pulled his cell phone out and checked the time. 7:27. He was early… kind of. 'It's early… If I knock, will he even answer? If I knock, will he even be in the right _state of mind_ to understand I wasn't a bomb?' No matter the second thoughts, Riku planted a firm fist against the door. After some banging and crashing from the inside, the silver handle started to turn and a bushel of red hair popped itself out a crack.

"Hello?" The red hair lifted and a face started to appear under it and murmured a greeting.

"Axel?"

"Huh… Riku? Why in the _hell_ are you here at such a _god damned_ hour of the night?" Axel ran his fingers through his messy knotted hair, revealing his drowsy expression. Truth be told, he looked like he needed a good nights sleep.

"I'm here to take you to Alcoholics Anonymous, remember? At 7:30 sharp," Riku said, pushing his way past his friend and into his house. Axel's eyes followed Riku and his body turning, then shutting the door. His house hadn't changed much. You could still smell the alcohol and residue of other actives, some illegal, and his floor was still dirty and unkempt, but more walking space was available. It looked like a sad attempt to clean and whoever was doing the picking up had lost interest or it was what was left over from when Riku "cleaned" last time he was here. Axel's appearance hadn't improved much either. He was untidy and looked, well, as Demyx put it, hobo-ish. There wasn't much time since they had to report there at 8 o'clock, so Riku had to accept taking Axel as is. "Did you just get up?"

"… Yep," he responded in a not too enthusiastic voice while lifting shirts and other clothes, searching for something in a pile in his room.

"You don't really have time to shower; we kinda got to go soon. Check in is at 8." Riku stood motionless, watching his friend scramble back in forth around his apartment. Axel slowly stood up when Riku finished his sentence and exhaled deeply.

"I figured as much. I'm just looking for some shoes."

"And preferably a shirt…"

"… Yeah, a clean one…"

"Listen, I don't want to go to this just as much as you and-" Riku stopped. He couldn't finish, not after that glare. Axel shot him a vicious glare, one that couldn't even describe the chills that followed Riku down into his soul, so he shut up. He knew the only reason Axel was even being so attentive about it was the fact that Riku could decode the message Roxas left him. Riku couldn't say a thing to comfort Axel, at least not now. Axel wasn't in the mood for metaphor, so Riku simply opened the car door and turned the radio on. When they arrived, Axel was barely attentive to the meeting, but the counselor soon got to him. It's not like Axel to turn his back and let the dark side get him, but Riku could have swore that at some points, he was on the verge of tears. This may not have been Axel's cup of tea, but whenever the counselor would mention that fact that they were all here on their own free will… well, most of them, and that they all had their promises to keep, and were probably doing this with support, either for someone or with someone, it got to him. Axel played along with the other children except when someone suggested he look into an anger management course as well. Then, of course, he had to prove to them just how "under control" his temper was. He didn't _have_ compulsive anger. Which, as you could guess, didn't prove anything. They got out just in time for lunch, of course after a 30 minute goodbye and a plea to not see them next week unless they still need it.

"Wanna met Sora?"

"Huh?"

"Sora, the kid I take care of. Do you want to meet him and go to lunch? That is, if we're still friends."

"Don't act gay. I just left the rainbow parade, I don't think my head could handle more brainwashing."

"Ha-Ha, don't get too cocky, I don't except this change to be over night. It takes time and you have to pursue it with your whole self." Riku's voice suddenly mimicked one of a higher, more female pitched one, which caused a laugh out of them both but was then followed by a seemingly awkward silence.

"I guess, I mean, I'm pretty hungry. I haven't eaten actual food in a few days. Why so suddenly, though?"

"You're not the only one with problems, you know." Riku nudged his friend's arm jokingly as the walked outside, only to put a more serious voice one. "I got into a stupid fight with him and I don't want it to continue. So I want you to come home with me to avoid it."

"Don't be so tense," Axel stated, nudging his friend back. "If it's stupid, it'll blow over. Maybe you could lend the kid to me and I'll pay him to clean my house."

"Heh, with what money?"

"Don't push me, I happen to know your bank pin." Sarcasm, one key feature of a sober Axel that Riku had missed. His crude, mean, sarcastic humor that always made him smile.

"Welcome back." Smiling, they both drove back toward the Devane house, where Riku hoped a certain moody teenager was awaiting him. Soon enough, the car ride was over and the two older boys were stepping inside. Riku gave Axel the "grand tour" before telling him to wait and going to find Sora. Axel stood in the middle of the living room, which he would describe more or less as 3 times the size of his apartment with luxurious furniture and what seemed to be a fully stocked bar… Quickly realizing where he had just come from, he shook off any urges he was having and forced himself to calm down, resorting to pacing. What he didn't realize was the pair of tan legs slung over the arm of the couch and a pair of blue eyes watching him.

"What're you doing?" His pacing coming to an abrupt stop, Axel began to look around the room bewildered. Sora shook his head with a giggle and jumped off the couch and over to the tall red head. "Hellooo, I'm down here. Not everyone's your height, you know." At the sight of Sora, Axel couldn't help but feel a tug at his heart. Looking into his deep blue eyes, he could have sworn he was looking at a younger version of his Roxas if it weren't for the hair. Backing up, he looked the boy up and down before smiling to himself. He couldn't help but have a soft spot for the kid. Not when he looked so much like him. This kid reminded him why he was going to those stupid AA meetings in the first place. 'Hn,' Axel thought, 'this might just be the push I need.' Finally taking the initiative to lean down, Axel replied to the short brunette.

"Riku's looking for you, you know."

"Yeah, I know, but… he's mad at me. He doesn't really wanna find me."

"Nah, I'm _pretty_ sure that's not true."

"How would you know?" Axel rolled his eyes. 'Shit. This is the teenage personality Riku was talking about.'

"Just trust me kid."

"Do a lot of people trust you?"

"Yeah, sure. I think I'm pretty trustworthy. Let's just say your secrets won't be on the 10 o'clock news."

"Okay! Well in that case, uhh… What's your name?"

"… Axel."

"Right, Axel, _well_, in that case, I REALLY need to talk to you later."

"About what?" Sora suddenly jerked his head in the direction of the stairs, the thump of feet stomping down them a good sign that Riku would soon be joining them.

"It's a secret, just trust me." He slyly winked at Axel in an over exaggerated way before giggling to himself and looking in the direction he knew Riku would be coming from. Once he came into sight, Sora began to speak. "Riku?"

"Sora!" Riku all but yelled as he ran over and gave Sora a hug. "I was just looking all over for you!"

"I know. I watched you tell Axel to wait. I was sitting right there you know. Nice to know you pay attention Ri," Sora said with a humph. Before Riku could say any sort of apology, little Sora had started again. "Whatever, I'm hungry Riku. Can we get pizza?" Axel's ears perked up at the sound of the word pizza.

"I like pizza," he chimed in, looking at Riku with his trademark cheshire grin, hoping to throw a hint of pity in his eyes. When Riku rolled his eyes and grabbed his keys, both the younger brunette and the older red head pumped a fist in victory and high fived. Even with Sora jumping in the air and Axel bending down, their hands had a hard time connecting. Riku chuckled as he ignored the two "children" and kept walking towards the door. With Axel acting like a 13 year old and with Sora acting like, well… Sora, Riku knew this was going to be a _long_ lunch.

After walking into the pizza parlor and a waitress giving Riku a flirty look that Sora found rather annoying, they waited at the hostess stand to be seated. A bubbly blonde walked up and introduced herself.

"So table for 2?" she asked with a smile before noticing Sora. "Oh," she giggled, "I didn't see you down there! So table for 3?" Crossing his arms, Sora pouted before reluctantly following her to a booth. He sat himself across from Axel, making sure to keep Riku close to him. Now that all these girls were eying him, Sora wasn't too sure he liked it. Maybe this was how Riku felt. Soon enough, the waitress had come and they were all placing their orders.

"I'll have a beer," Axel announced, looking at Riku with a challenging glare.

"No… He'll have a soda. _I'll_ have a beer," Riku retorted. He could see the glow in Axel's eyes fade with defeat. He was so close, he could feel the glory of winning when Sora chirped in.

"Riku." Sora was using his matter-of-fact voice and Riku knew this wasn't going to go his way. "I took health. Drinking is bad for you. It corrodes away your liver, damages your brain, causes chronic diseases, _and_ your teeth will fall out." All 3 of them, Riku, Axel, and the waitress, looked at him with disbelieving eyes before Riku chuckled and shook his head before returning his attention to the waitress.

"Welp. I guess I'll have a soda." Beaming, Sora gave Riku a quick side hug and ordered a cherry coke and waited while Riku ordered a large pepperoni pizza for all of them to share. When the waitress came back with their drinks, she placed a long neck bottle in front of Riku and winked.

"Don't worry. It's on me." Winking once more, she was about to turn away when Axel looped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him.

"Well, well, well, what's your name? I'm Axel." The girl looked like she was about to swoon when both of them turned their heads to a laughing Riku.

"Axel is a sex addict and is currently attending Alcoholics Anonymous classes to get his boyfriend back. I'm Riku." He flashed her a smile and she placed her hand over her heart.

"Oh, well, Riku, Axel," she paused to giggle before continuing. "I'm Tifa." She reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out a card before scrawling something on it and sliding it to Riku. This time, it was her turn to wink as she walked away. Instinctively, Sora pulled himself against Riku and nuzzled against his arm, shooting the waitress a glare that said "try me bitch". Once the pizza arrived and the waitress scuttled away after receiving yet another dirty glare from Sora, Riku stood up.

"That table over there has more of those red peppers, I'm gonna go switch these out," he said, shaking the jar that was already on their table. Once he was away, Sora leaned forward over the table and whispered to Axel.

"I need to talk to you."

"About what?" Axel questioned, not whispering.

"Shhh!"

"Oh, sorry. About what?"

"Riku. He always poops before he eats, so he'll be gone for awhile, then we can talk."

"… Thank you for that strange trivia. Now that I can win _Who Wants to be a Millionaire_, what about exactly?" Sora saw Riku heading back and quickly finished the conversation.

"You'll see!" He had leaned back to his side of the table just in time for Riku to come into view and place the shaker down on the table.

"Hey, I'm gonna go to the bathroom, I'll be back." Axel stared in amazement as he watched Riku walk to the bathroom. In all honesty, he hadn't believed the kid when he said that. Shaking it off, he looked at Sora.

"Okay, so what is it?"

"So you and Riku are like, cool, you know, 'cause you guys hang out, right?"

"I don't know," Axel mumbled, "He's only taken me to AA and seen cat woman, I don't know how much closer we can get." Tilting his head to the side in an adorable puppy dog manner, Axel saw Sora's eyes widening with curiosity.

"Who's cat woman?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Okay, 'cause I mean at my birthday party I played this joke on Riku. A friend of mine and I pretended to like each other and I told him we kissed and then he got all pissed about it but when I asked him why, he just got even more mad."

"Wow, you really are naïve."

"What does that even mean!? I looked it up, but apparently I used it wrong!"

"Ignorant too? Man, Riku knows how to pick 'em."

"Hey! Don't make fun of me."

"Whatever kiddo."

"Don't call me that. 1, I'm not a kid, so don't call me that. I'm a teenager, so I guess you could call me teeno or something, but don't. That sounds stupid. Call me Sora. And 2, only Riku calls me that… even though he's not supposed to."

"You know, does this have a point? 'Cause Riku isn't going to shit forever." Thinking to himself for a moment, Sora thought back to all the times when Riku would "be right back" and they wouldn't eat for another 30 minutes. He laughed before continuing his conversation with Axel.

"… Oh, yeah, well I just don't understand what it means."

"The naïve part? 'Cause that could take all night."

"_No_, the why he got mad part. But if you want to explain that, you can 'cause I don't know, we could have a sleepover or something. I've had one with Riku before."

"Have you now?" Axel remembered that. It was the day Riku came banging on his door at 9 in the fucking morning because he had just left. It was the day the spent drunk and high as hell and the day he met Roxas. He cringed slightly but decided to write it off as just a chill. Axel didn't cringe. Not over a boy… no matter how cute his butt was.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun. We had sleeping bags and everything! We could make smores!" Their conversation was put to an abrupt end when Riku strolled up and sat back down with a goofy smile on his face.

"What about smores?" Clearly he had heard the last bit of the conversation. What could he say? Every man likes a good smore.

"Me and Axel are gonna have a sleepover!"

"Are you now? And when are you gonna do this? Am I invited?"

"I don't know… We only have 2 sleeping bags. I mean, you could sleep on the couch if you want, but Axel can set up the tent so it won't be all open like last time. It has a zipper."

"Yeah," Axel smirked, "I can put up a tent." Through the corner of his eye, Riku caught Axel motioning down towards his crotch, pretending to zip and unzip his pants while mouthing "with a zipper." After Riku had laughed it off, but not before he shot Axel a look, they finished the pizza and drove back to the Devane house. Axel said something about going back to pick up some pajamas and when an hour had passed and he still wasn't there, Sora went to find Riku. He roamed the halls for a few minutes, peeking into the rooms, before finding him sitting in a chair in their room, looking at a picture frame. He walked in and Riku put the picture back on the small table next to him, revealing it to be the first one they had taken together. It was of him and Riku during the first time his parents had left them alone while they went on a business trip. Riku had taken him to the zoo and they had stopped someone and asked them to take a picture outside the tiger cage. Sora had a sunburn spreading across his cheeks and nose and Riku's hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. They looked happy. It had always been Sora's favorite picture, hence why it was sitting there. It was actually his Christmas present to Riku that past year. There's not much an at the time 12 year old can really buy. Sitting on the bed, he looked at Riku and each waited for the other to speak. Sora finally broke the silence.

"He's not coming back, is he?"

"Nope."

"That's okay. We weren't really gonna have a sleepover anyway. I just wanted to make you mad… You know, Selphie's my best friend, I've known her since I was like 7, I figured you would have known that. We don't really like each other, I was just trying to make you jealous and we didn't kiss. Not that Selphie isn't pretty or anything, but that'd be gross. Why are you mad at me?" Sighing and rolling his eyes, he walked over and sat next to Sora, pulling him into his lap.

"Because Sora. I like having you around."

"But that doesn't explain why you got mad at me…"

"Because I like having you around for myself." He leaned in and kissed Sora before rubbing their noses together in an Eskimo kiss. A grin was spreading across Sora's face and Riku felt his heart skip a beat. He always loved it when Sora smiled. "My birthday's in a couple days. How about the beach, just you and me?" With his smile growing even wider, Sora nodded his head vigorously and yawned, telling Riku it was bed time. Settling down, Riku was glad to finally have things the way they were supposed to be. Now all he had to do was wait.

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Reviews would be really, really, REALLY nice... :D


	15. Drinks on Me

Uhh, please don't shoot us. We know it's been a month and 3 days (we checked).

We've had a lot of distractions going on... We're huge procrastinators to begin with, then writers block, as you all know, is another problem we have, as well as motivation issues, and don't get us started on homecoming because 1) it was a long night and 2) we don't remember most of it (JK, it actually helped us write the rest of the chapter... Drinking is a nice pastime and good inspiration ;D)

BUT, to make it up to you, on Word this chapter was 13 pages and we finally get to a smex scene ;)  
Enjoyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Disclaimer: If it took us a month to write one chapter and we're still not quite sure how the next one's going to go, I think it's clear it's not ours... But we still demand reviews.

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"Riku?" Silently screaming, Sora began probing Riku's cheek with his pointer finger, half of him wanting Riku to wake up and the other half not wanting to disturb him. "Are you sleeping?" A muffled groan came from the bed as Riku flipped over to escape whatever was bothering him. Sighing, Sora climbed on the bed and over Riku and began poking his cheek again. "Riku! Wake up!" One eye lazily opened and looked up at Sora with a questioning look.

"Go away." Squeezing his eye shut, Riku attempted to ignore the fact that Sora would _not_ be going away anytime soon.

"But it's your birthday! You're the big 2-1 now Ri-_ku_! You gotta get up!"

"What _time_ is it Sora?"

"Seven. Just in time to go to the beach."

"… **Go away. **_**Now**_."

"Riku, if I remember correctly you said we could go to the beach today, so get moving birthday boy!"

"I meant at a reasonable hour."

"I've had time to shower, eat, and change. It _is_ a reasonable hour if I'm up! Now c'mon Riku, please! It'll be fun, I swear!"

"Is your dad up?"

"Well… no, but it's his day off."

"Exactly. It's not a reasonable hour yet."

"Riku! C'mon, stop being a damn pansy," Sora then violently ripped the sheets off the bed, leaving Riku to instinctively curl into the fetal position for warmth, "and get ready!" Chest huffing, Riku finally got up, but not before shooting Sora a dirty glare.

"Fine. I'm up."

"Good. You have 5 minutes. I'll be waiting." With that last sentence, Sora winked and headed downstairs. Grumbling to himself, Riku began rummaging around the room, looking for his swimsuit. When they were finally found, he held them up to make sure they were okay to wear. Noticing a stain on the side, he brought the swimsuit closer to his face to examine it.

"What the hell? The last time I wore these was in high school… I don't even wanna know what that is." Throwing them on the ground, he made a mental note to stop by Wal-Mart on their way to the beach and slipped some basketball shorts on. On his way downstairs, he stopped by the hall closet and pulled out a couple towels. Once he got those out, he noticed more and more things that they might possibly need at the beach and couldn't help but grab the beach bag and start filling it. Downstairs, Sora was sitting on a barstool, swaying his feet back and forth. Obviously eager to get to the beach, he hopped off and started pacing.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sora stopped and turned around to see his mother standing in the doorway, still in a nightgown, motioning towards his swimsuit.

"The beach. Me and Riku… It's his birthday."

"Riku's birthday, huh? He's 21 now, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Sora suddenly had a defensive tone in his voice as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Just wondering. I might just have to take him out for a night on the town tonight. Maybe take him to a couple bars."

"Actually, Axel wanted to be the first one to take me drinking. Legally." Neither Sora nor his mother had heard Riku come downstairs, but Sora was more than okay with using it as their cue to leave.

"Well, mom, not that I don't _love_ talking to you, but me and Riku are going to the beach now." A smile had made its way from ear to ear across Sora's face as he turned around and grabbed Riku's hand, pulling him out the door. After a quick stop to Wally World to buy a new, clean swimsuit for Riku, they were finally on their way to the beach. By the time they reached the beach, it was already 9 and the parking lot was crowded. "Uhh, Riku look how crowded this is. I _told_ you we should have left earlier."

"Don't be a jerk Sora." Finally lucking out, they got a somewhat decent spot after cruising through some lanes. Before Riku had even turned the car off, Sora was already outside, waiting for Riku to catch up. "Jeez Sora, a little excited?"

"No, it's your birthday Riku, you should be excited."

"No never mind, let's go."

"Wait, what did you mean then?" Skipping to a sprint, Sora sped up to catch up to where Riku was walking. "So do you feel different being 21?" Sora looked up to Riku with his wide grin plastered across his face while nudging his ribs.

"I will soon enough," he said, a stupid grin appearing on Riku's face.

"What is that suppose mean?" Riku just nodded his head toward Sora while letting a small chuckle escape his lips.

"Never mind."

"Riku, you really need to stop putting all these subliminal messages in your words 'cause you're really confusing me and don't call me naïve 'cause I'm not, I'm just-" cut off from his rant, Riku put his input in.

"Stupid?"

"NO! Why would you say that?"

"I call them as I see them kiddo." Riku placed his hand on top of Sora's hair and ruffled it while smiling. Noticing the smile, Sora decided to not let it get to him.

"You're lucky it's your birthday otherwise I'd be a lot madder at you Riku."

"More mad, Sora. 'Madder' isn't a word."

"Don't push me…" Riku couldn't help himself and busted into a laugh, Sora was certainly going to make this day even more entertaining. They entered the beach area and Sora gasped at the sight of the ocean. It truly did look like it could go on and on forever and that the end of the world was just past the water, if it ever ended. A hand made its way onto Sora's shoulder, forcing him to glance up from his gaze at the water.

"Sora, you live by the ocean, don't be so dramatic."

"It gets to me _every_ time, Riku." Wiping his imagery tears with small fake sounding sniffles, Riku rolled his eyes and continued.

"Come on, let's pick a spot." Walking past many on-beach bars and other places, they settled on one place in particular. It was an on-beach restaurant with lawn chairs already placed out for those who wished to stay near the water on the sand and umbrellas if requested. After getting seated, they took off their excess clothes and Sora's first instinct was straight to the water, while Riku's was straight to the bar. Sora stood right where the water rushed up the sand hills and smiled as his toes were grazed by the water. Taking a few steps forward, he could feel the power of the water already as the water now reached half way up his calf, then with a few more steps the water reached his knees. This time, the density of the water created more force, pulling Sora into the water. He popped his head up from the salty surface, shaking it and laughing. Riku on the other hand was now talking to a bartender and laughing. Everyone there already knew it was someone's 21st birthday and shots were shared. Everyone loved having a reason to drink heavy or heavier and a young fresh kid who just turned 21 was the best reason. Time to celebrate… for him of course, and made room for everyone one to buy him, and the whole table, rounds. In fact, someone whose birthday was that of the legal age made people who where not normally associated with alcohol, feel implied to drink with the new dude. It is always clear when you have a legal drinking teen who had drank before or who hadn't. These bar hoppers who spend their hard earned incomes on some random guy to have 'another round, he's _finally_ legal' shots are usually the ones they know they can, in fact, handle another and used it. Riku was obviously one of those who could drink his 21st birthday down to hell for free and didn't plan on it any other way.

Sora, on the other hand, had a different plan for Riku's birthday, but as it can be assumed, they were both on different agendas and that wouldn't fly. Sora swam in the water, splashing in his delight, and swayed in its current. He basically did all he could and enjoyed it… until he got bored. Sora, now at the age of 13 pushing puberty and adolescences, was at the point where everything and nothing amazed him, but just for a second, and when that feeling hit him in the water, he stood there.

"I'm bored. Maybe Riku will come in the water? Where is he?" Sora stood, looking in most directions of the beach goers but only after getting out of the water. He saw their stuff still sitting on their chairs, untouched. 'Where's Riku?' Sora didn't want to be the kid on the beach by himself. For one, he was a cute, small boy, two, he was kind of afraid, and three, he was supposed to be celebrating right now. Riku and him all day at the beach, or at least that was the plan. They were at the beach, both of them, but the only problem was that they weren't together. Sora just kept his movement steady and approached their stuff. He dug through his bag frustrated and practically shoved his face down into it in a desperate attempt to find something. Finally sighing, Sora pulled his cell phone out and pressed the number 2. Speed dial, a function on a telephone that allows numbers to be stored in memory and then dialed by pressing an assigned button. Riku was on Sora's speed dial, in fact he was the first one, considering that voicemail was automatically set as speed dial 1. He let it ring time and time again, getting even more impatient as another ring echoed in his ear. Just when he thought that Riku would never pick up, he heard a muffled sound that he assumed was the inside of Riku's pocket before a few cheers made their way to his ears. Pressing the phone closer to his head in an attempt to hear better, he finally spoke up. "Riku!?" It was more or less of a yell, not loud enough to be considered a disturbance of the peace, but loud enough to draw some looks.

"Heyyyyy kiddo!" Sora pulled the phone away from his face and scrunched his face together at the loud squeal.

"Riku, where are you?" he said using his "adult voice." Desperate times called for desperate measures, and Sora was _not_ happy with Riku at the moment.

"At the beach with you, duh Sora."

"Clearly Riku, but_ where_ on the beach?"

"The bar! Where else!"

"Riku! Why are you at the bar!?"

"'Cause I'm 21! That's what legal people do, they go to the bars!" At hearing this, Sora crinkled his brow in annoyance.

"But Riku! You said we could spend the day at the beach! Not I could spend the day alone while you spent it at the bar! And besides, I thought you said Axel wanted to be the first to legally take you drinking!"

"Nah, I just didn't wanna go with your mom. She freaks me out, could you tell her to stop hitting on me?" Riku was acting a little off and Sora could tell he was already a little tipsy. Huffing, he glared at the phone before hanging up without saying bye and stalked over to the bar. Shortly after hanging up, Sora had made his way to the bar and shortly after that, a head of silver hair came into view. He wasn't surprised when he saw the phone still pressed against the older boy's ear and couldn't help but laugh when he noticed Riku was still talking. "Sora! Sora, you gotta hear this! Sora! Sora?" Riku looked down at the phone confused before feeling a small tap on his shoulder and looking over. Noticing it was Sora, he put the phone on the counter as a huge grin crept across his face. Sora couldn't help but let the anger he had melt away as he saw the look on Riku's face. He was having fun. The kind of fun that Sora could see in his eyes. Thinking back to all the "fun times" him and Riku had together, he realized that it was always what Sora wanted to do and Riku complying. They still always had a good time, but the more he thought about it, the more he couldn't help but feel like he owed this to Riku. He let Riku's contagious smile reach his face as he plopped himself down on the barstool next to him. "Bartender I think we need another round!" Cheers came from the people surrounding the two of them, seemingly eager to continue their rampage of alcohol consumption. The bartender went around the table filling little glasses with a liquid that Sora knew must be the sin that his health teacher was talking about. Then right before they lifted the shots, Riku tilted his head down toward Sora and noticed him sitting there. "HEY kiddo!"

"Hey Riku," he said with a not too enthusiastic voice. Right now, he felt like he was just playing along in Riku's game.

"Why you look so down?"

"I don't think you really want to know that."

"Ha-ha if I didn't, would I ask?" As Riku talked, he seemed to slowly lean forward toward Sora, then by the time he said his last phrase, he rubbed his nose to Sora's. Sora seemed surprised by the motion and backed his head back a little, but it was too late for Riku to notice. He had popped his head back up and was motioning at the bartender to come over. "Can you make my friend a drink?" The bartender looked down at Sora and smiled.

"What do you want?" Sora opened his mouth in surprise. He had not one clue of any drinks and he was shocked that Riku would suggest he have something, he was underage. Besides, Sora made a pact after learning about the side effects in health that he wouldn't never ever drink, but Riku, you see, was not informed of this pact and ordered for him.

"Get him a piña-coloda. That's fruity enough for him." The bartender nodded and then shot Sora a glance with a lifted brow, but then right before he turned around, Riku yelled at him. "Oh yeah, make it non-alcoholic!"

"YOU CAN DO THAT!?" Sora turned his head so fast that Riku was actually quite shocked and to add to it, Sora practically screamed at him.

"YEAH! Just not with all of them, only the fruity mixes. You can't do it with mine." Riku lifted his glass and stirred it in the air. "Which really needs to get drank. OKAY GUYS!" Riku yelled, catching the other drinkers' attention, "Let's have a shot contest!" Just as much as everyone loved free shots, they loved watching people compete to down these shots in a very small amount of time even more. By this time, a few people had gathered around to where Riku was sitting while some switched seats and prepared to drink. The bartender was pouring multiple shots, enjoying himself just as much as those who were getting wasted. He already brought Sora his drink, which sat in front of him melting. Sora was just as interested in what Riku was doing as the others were to see how long he'd last.

"ONE!" a voice yelled.

"TWO!" came another.

"THREE!" The bartender set them off. One by one, the small glasses in front of each person became empty. They stayed in prefect harmony taking each shot together. The crowd behind them started to chant.

"GO! GO! GO!"

Riku made it to the end of there seemingly silly contest, but he didn't win. You do have to remember, he wasn't a professional drinker… at least not yet. In other words, he didn't hold up to Axel's standards yet and Riku was damn determined he was going to meet those standards soon. Though as soon as he let his head settle around him, he noticed that where a previous little brunette sat, now sat an older gentleman that Riku thinks might have bought a round. He turned his head left and right, then decided to grab his drink and slide out the back of the crowd still engulfed in the drinking contest. He stood there a second and let his eyes focus from the sudden dizziness of standing before looking around. He was having a hard time analyzing things further away, so he began to walk. He called Sora's name a few times, but multitasking right now needed to wait, so he stuck to his vision. Somehow Riku walked over to where their stuff was and just plopped down. Good thing to because he needed a break. He sighed; he still had no idea where Sora was. Riku looked up at the blue sky, following it down to where the water started, looking at the little heads in it, then froze.

"Sora!" One head looked up and smiled while franticly waving at the silver haired man who just sat there chuckling as he watched Sora have a bit of a hard time getting away from the water.

"Riku!" he huffed after running over to him.

"Where'd you go?"

"To go swimming. I got hot and bored and we _are_ at the beach. I wanted to do beachy stuff."

"Sorry. I'm sorry, I'm being selfish. You're right, we should be doing beachy stuff." Sora just smiled and grabbed Riku's arm.

"Then come in the water with me!" Before Riku could object, he was being pulled and tripping his way over to the ocean, and to be honest as much as the water made him want to throw up, he was having fun. After some time there, Sora's tummy got a little rumbly and he decided he needed some food. They went back up to their lawn chairs and sat down, letting the sun dry them off. The extra special cool thing about this restaurant was that the waiters would come to you on the beach. After waiting a few minutes, their waiter made his way over to them and they began to order. Riku got another drink, this time something cold, a margarita and chicken strips for both of them. For the amount of people this restaurant had to serve, they were pretty speedy. In only a few 30 minutes or so, then had their drinks and food. Sora practically inhaled his chicken strips, while Riku barley ate any; he really didn't want to have something in his tummy to throw up if he felt that need again.

"Riku?"

"Huh."

"Is that good?"

"Sora, I got the same thing as you and you ate all of yours, so I'm guessing the chicken is good enough."

"_No_, the drink you have. Is it good?"

"Eh, I've had better. They put too much Malibu rum in it. It over powers somewhat and I really just want the tequila."

"What?"

"HA-HA, yeah, it's good. It's kinda of like a fruit drink with a kick." Riku chuckled sipping his drink."

"Can I try it?" Riku turned his head to Sora who generally looked serious about it and Riku decided that hey, what would one sip hurt anyway? So as he tilted his drink forward, Sora grabbed it by the sides and took a sip from the straw. Sora had a look on his face that seemed to be a bit disgusted which only made Riku laugh because he was enthusiastically watching Sora take his tiny sips.

"You know, you don't have to keep drinking it if you don't like it." Riku attempted to grab his drink back from Sora but he just pulled back to keep it near him.

"I didn't say I didn't like it! It just has a funny after taste, but it's still good."

"HA-HA, that's what makes it BETTER! Dude, Sora, I thought you knew everything. You said you were in health," he said nudging him, still attempting to regain his drink from the small brunette, who seemed stubborn enough to keep a hold of it. "That's the alcohol, fool!"

"I did know that, it was just my first time tasting it Riku." At this point, Riku stopped listening to Sora ramble or listen to his pathetic attempt to sound 'informed' on the riches that were alcohol. He was too preoccupied trying to regain his lost drink that Sora was slowly sipping away. "and besides Riku I think-"

"Would you stop!" Riku finally snapped and straightened his back crossing his arms, giving Sora a somewhat ridicules look.

"Uhh… Stop what?" Sora asked slowly, wrapping his plump red lips around the straw of the drink before taking a sip then pulling away, licking his lips to enjoy the last of the sip. "Riku?" Pulled from his gaze, Riku started to stare blankly at Sora, trying to remember his previous thoughts, before a certain pair of nice, plump, sun colored lips started caressing a straw that he was wishing was just a little south of…

"Uhhhhh… shit." Mouth opened, Sora tilted a brow at Riku who was really pushing to remember. 'WHAT WAS I THINKING!? GO BACK TO THAT THOUGHT… _Not_ the other one!' "Oh yeah… Give me my drink back bitch!"

"Riku!?" Sora's eyes widened at his words.

"What? I don't know who you're trying to fool Sora. I'm sober enough to know who has my drink and when they give it back." To be honest, Riku probably was sober enough to know he didn't have a drink in his hand and knew that needed fixing, but other than that, any other form of brain functioning or utilizing was very limited or delayed. "Fine, be a stubborn about it. WAITER!" Riku waved his hand a few times in the air before letting it fall to his side. He wasn't even sure a waiter heard or saw him, but right before his hand fell, a tall man was holding his hand, laughing. It was the waiter from the bar who just dropped Riku's hand as he looked up. In fact, Riku almost slapped himself dead in the face. Riku was looking up toward the man with a dumb founded look as he just returned to gaze with a small smile. Riku had his entire head tilted backward and if you were looking at them in the distance, they could be mistaken for lovers, which Sora duly noted and also despised, why was it that Riku got cuter when he was wasted? The waiter noticed, he noticed, in fact, everyone noticed… except Riku.

"Did you want another drink?" Riku closed his eyes and huffed a yes, nodding his head at the same time only to make the waiter laugh more. Sora at this point had began chugging Riku's drink, shooting evil glares toward the waiter who was tramping on his territory, so by the time the waiter had finished talking, Sora was sucking on the last of the sips. Hearing a familiar noise, he looked over from his gaze into aqua eyes to where Sora was just keeping his glare on strong. He tried to smile and began to speak, "Oh is he with you? Do you need a refill?" But before Sora could put his input in toward this man, Riku began to talk.

"Oh, he stole MINE!" He twisted his head and looked at Sora with wide eyes, who in return just lifted his brows and smiled widely. "Yeah, he'll need one too then, I guess." Riku flipped his head back to the upward position it was in previously.

"Haha, yeah, I'll be right out with that and I'm getting a special drink just for you, a birthday drink." Winking, he walked away. By now, Sora was beyond angry with this waiter who thought he had a chance with _his_ Riku. What an absurd thought!

"Did you hear? We get a special birthday drink!"

"Yesss… I heard."

"What's wrong? You're getting one too baby? I mean, we're not sharing. You drank my whole drink."

"That's not it!"

"Then what is it? You're all mad at me. What I do? I'm with you, giving you illegal alcohol."

"YOU WERE FLIRTING WITH THAT STUPID WAITER!"

"OH? Were you jealous?" Jerking his head away, Sora pulled at his hands, crossing them across his chest and huffed out a growl. Riku smirked and attempted to crawl over to him, which looked more like stumbling. He sat with Sora on his lawn chair and looked at him. Sora didn't even bother to return the attention as he stayed focused on looking away. Leaning closer to him, Riku began to attempt to make eye contact. When the was clearly not possible, he leaned even closer until his mouth was level with Sora's ear. "You know… I don't think the waiters hot. If anything, I've got something in mind for _us_ to do later."

"Really Riku?" Sora turned his body to face Riku again, excitement playing itself across his face. "What is it?" Slowly, Riku pressed his lips against Sora's, taking advantage of the moment and making it last longer than usual. When he pulled away, he looked at Sora's incredibly blushed face and chuckled.

"A little birthday surprise. I'll let you use your imagination." Just when Sora opened his mouth to speak, the waiter popped by with a tray of drinks for mostly Riku, and then Sora's lone margarita. "But first," Riku said, grabbing the drink from the tray and pushing it into Sora's hand, "I think you should have some more of this." Grabbing the drink from Riku, Sora began to sip. 'Okay' he thought, 'this better be worth it.' And just as if Riku were psychic, he leaned in again towards him after pushing the waiter to leave and whispered, "Got these for free, there is nothing wrong with using what you got, huh?" Sora just pretended to smile with a faintly jealous 'heh' in return. After a few drinks and an unknown amount of time had passed, Riku and Sora decided to jet from the beach. They attempted to leave without causing any attention, but somehow from their chairs to the walkway, they made a ton of friends, gained a few more drinks, and a couple followed who thought they were going to a party. Sad to say Riku turned them down, but once they finally got to have the company of each other, nothing was said. In fact, it was rather quiet, but nothing needed to be said. Honestly, they were too busy either counting their steps or telling themselves they know how to walk. 'Why on earth was I stumbling?' were in fact the exact thoughts of Sora. "Hey Sora! Watch out!" Riku tried to yell, but his reaction time was delayed, so Sora went flying forward. He had tripped on a crack in the side walk, but because Riku had tried to save him, he just went down as well. Sitting on the concrete, Riku looked at Sora then simultaneously busted into laughter.

"Oops! I fell." Smiling, Riku picked Sora up bridal style.

"Don't worry about it. I think we parked like… right here?" Luckily for Riku, they had. They got in and drove back toward Sora's house, which was empty. On any other day, this house being empty would have been a normal thing, but for it to be empty today, Sora's dad's day off, it felt kinda weird. Sora attempted to call his dad but after multiple voice mails, he gave up and just left one, nothing too exciting. The usual 'where are you' and 'call me when you get this.' "Did he answer?"

"No. I have no idea where everyone is. It's like, awkwardly dead in here, I can't even find mom."

"Sora, your house is always this dead. You're just paranoid."

"Am not!" Walking up to Sora, Riku grabbed his arm and drew him closer.

"Then prove it. Let it go, come with me upstairs, to my room." Slightly hesitating, Sora just went. Riku was right, Sora really wasn't himself and these steps were really hard to walk on.

"WOAH!" Chuckling came and Riku turned around to find Sora on the ground and once again had to carry him to their destination.

"Riku, I think I'm like, so wasted."

"Haha, you're fine, come on." In Riku's room, he threw Sora on the bed and stripped his shirt off.

"Good idea changing. I'm all wet and wanna take my suit off." Quickly twirling around, Riku pushed Sora back on the bed and answered him, still holding a shoulder.

"Then take it off."

"Right now?"

"Yeah."

"But, I have nothing to wear-" Riku decided he was done talking and apparently listening because even though Sora was trying to use his brain, Riku was trying to feed another head's desire. He began nibbling on Sora's ear and making his way down to his neck. He started with small nibbles that left a wet trail down to where Riku was now enjoying the taste of Sora's honey brown skin on his neck. Sora couldn't speak. This was his first time to experience such actions and under the influence of alcohol on top of that! Sora wasn't sure if it was him or the alcohol that was creating such an intense reaction to Riku's motives. With a moan from Sora, Riku knew he was enjoying it and duly continued. This time, he had lowered his head to Sora's collar bone, sucking the shape of the bone to memory. It didn't take long before he pulled away, admiring the fresh red marks decorating Sora's neck and upper chest. Smirking, he couldn't help but feel accomplished. Riku had marked his territory. He quickly moved back up to Sora's mouth, using the younger boy's gasp of surprise to slide his own tongue against the others and into his mouth, all the while slowly undoing Sora's bathing suit and inching it further and further off. It took longer than usual for Sora to realize what was going on, but when it finally hit him, it took only a split second for him to pull away with a surprised look on his face.

"Riku! What are you doing!" He was struggling to catch Riku's attention, and when he did, his eyes were met with a gaze full of lust. Now that he thought about it, there was no denying the bulge is Riku's pants either, or his own for that matter. Glancing back and forth between the two, Sora's mouth formed an "o" shape as he finally put two and two together. "So…" he gulped, "_this_ is the birthday surprise?" A devious grin now proudly displayed itself on Riku's face as he nodded his head and leaned back down, devouring Sora's mouth and in one swift movement, pulling his swimsuit all the way off. He leaned back and looked down at the younger boy below him and couldn't help but feel cliché as he let his eyes wander across his body, savoring every inch of it and committing it to memory. When Riku looked up at Sora's face, he couldn't help but smile at the cute blush that was creeping across the brunette's face. 'Typical Sora,' he thought as he then began to pull his own shirt off. Sora watched with attentive eyes and just as Riku had, allowed them to roam across the naked chest before him. When Riku stood up and pulled his swimsuit off as well, he couldn't help but let his eyes wander a little bit lower, which only caused his blush to grow even darker. "Riku… I, I don't know about this," Sora stuttered. He may have been drunk, but he knew damn well that this was _definitely _not something they should be doing.

"Don't worry Sora, it'll be okay. I know what I'm doing." Before Sora could say anything in return, he was met with Riku's usual wink and then a smile that threw him off guard. Taking a moment to regain his train of thought, he tried to protest one more time, but Riku wasn't having any of it. While Sora was trying to think, Riku's hand had made it's way down to his obviously hard penis and had began pumping up and down. Sora may not have been experienced, but he knew what felt good and holy shit, did this ever. Arching up into Riku's hand, Sora couldn't help but moan his name.

"R-Riku…" Leaning down and kissing the brunette, Sora avoided the kiss by turning his head into the pillow beneath him, breathing heavy and attempting to bury his face. "Riku… Riku, stop!"

"What Sora?" Riku questioned, a cocky tone lacing through his voice, hand still gliding up and down Sora's member, "I can't hear you." Sora scrunched his face up and stuttered into the pillow once again, this time a little louder.

"S-stop…" Riku had a confused look on his face and slowed his hand down slightly, looking around the room.

"What?" Finally Sora twisted his head out of the pillow and looked Riku in the face, tears bubbling in the corners of his eyes.

"I said stop!" he yelled. After a long pause which consisted of what seemed to be a staring contest, Sora got the same confused, awkward look on his face Riku just had. "I said… stop," he repeated again, only this time it was almost a whisper.

"I did Sora." Heavy breathing filled the air as both of them laid there, staring at each other once again. Finally, Riku leaned down to whisper in Sora's ear. "Just let me show you…" Slightly licking the shell and the nibbling on the lobe on Sora's ear, Riku pulled back and looked at Sora with an encouraging smile, the lust Sora had seen in his eyes earlier still there. With an uneasy groan, he squeezed his eyes together and raised his head to meet Riku's, crushing his lips into his before pulling away and opening his eyes while nodding his head. With a smirk, Riku bent down and kissed Sora, this time much, much more gently, while letting his hand resume its ministrations. When he pulled away, he watched Sora's face begin to change from one of reluctance to one of pleasure. Speeding his hand up, he couldn't help but smile when he saw Sora turn his head into the pillow once more, but for a much different reason this time. After a minute longer, Sora's hands flew up to his face, covering his mouth. It took Riku a second to realize what he was doing, but when he did, he was quick to stop it. When he grabbed Sora's hands away from his face with his free hand, Sora struggled.

"No… Riku…"

"No Sora, I want to hear you. I want to hear that you're enjoying yourself."

"But… Riku…" Sora looked up with wide eyes at Riku and then he started to furiously blink as his face began to change to multiple shades of dark red. He couldn't say anything else looking up at Riku because of the look he was giving him. He wasn't exactly sure what it was filled with, except maybe lust and understanding, and he knew, or _thought_ he knew, that Riku wouldn't continue unless _he_ wanted it. Sora lowered his gaze down Riku's body, avoiding his eyes, and somehow ended up at his stiffened shaft. The tip of it was rubbing against his belly due to the way Riku was sitting. Then Sora noticed his member, which was covered by a large pale hand. With a grin, Riku saw where Sora's eyes had fallen and began pumping once again, and when that sensation started up, Sora jerked his head back. Riku took this opportunity to once again attack Sora's neck. He bit and marked him in new places to distract Sora from his hand which had gradually increased to a faster pace. Sora tried with all his might to lift his head and speak, but just fell backwards again, shutting his eyes viciously. Then, without warning, Sora felt a hot cream fall onto his stomach with which a feeling of relief followed. It was like he could breathe again, as though he had been holding his breath underwater and had just darted himself to the surface. A gasp, then another… actually Sora was inhaling and exhaling rather quickly like it was a race to catch himself from the lack of air. When did he start holding his breath? Riku leaned down and began kissing Sora's jaw line. He pulled away and looked at Sora's flustered face, which seemed to be lost in a daze of the previous actions. He chuckled a bit and grabbed Sora's chin, pulling him into a deep kiss. Their tongues danced perfectly together, not so much as a thought of what they were doing passing through their minds. Sora finally opened his eyes to see Riku kissing him with his eyes open and suddenly turned away.

"What?" Riku genuinely asked to Sora, who appeared to be having trouble spitting out what was so… so funny.

"I'm sorry. You scared me when you were looking at me kiss you with your eyes open, haha."

"I just wanted to see your cute little face."

"Well it embarrasses me."

"Okay, if it bothers you that much." Smiling, Riku laughed along with Sora and attacked him in kisses, with his eyes closed of course. While they were kissing, Riku took one of his hands and began to run it down Sora's arm to his hand. He laid his hand on the top of Sora's and began to bring it closer to his chest, his stomach, and then his…

"Riku! What are you doing?!" Riku had a tight hold on Sora's hand to where he couldn't pull it away and had it so close to his lower body that Sora could feel _it _on the tips of his fingers_._ Something smooth and silky, yet at the same time very stiff. "Riku I, I can't." Leaning his head into Sora's shoulder, Riku spoke very quietly.

"Sora, yes, you can."

"No Riku!" Heavy breaths were warming Sora's shoulder as Riku panted into him deeply.

"Please Sora… for me." With no response, Riku loosened his grip on Sora's hand and when it didn't pull away, he lowered it that tiny bit more and wrapped Sora's small tan hand around his member. Taking a deep breath, Sora looked over at Riku with uneasy eyes. In return, he just smiled before rolling his face back into Sora's shoulder. With that, Riku began to start moving Sora's hand, slowly at first. He moved their hands together around him and waited till Sora started to move on his own. Once he felt Sora taking the lead in that, he started to lift his hand from Sora's who just stopped in return. "No Sora, keep going."

"I, I can't." Riku placed his hand on Sora's and started moving it again only a tiny bit faster.

"Yes Sora, you can, _please_." Hearing the desperation in his voice, Sora shut his eyes and began to move his hand faster. Riku lifted his hand from Sora's who in response, kept moving, just what he wanted. He took a bottomless breath, finally allowing himself to lift out of Sora's shoulder, and when he saw how appalled Sora was, he painfully shut his eyes. "Alright Sora, it's okay, you can stop."

"Huh? But Riku you haven't…" Stopping himself, Sora started to turn that dark red once again. He wasn't sure how to say it, so he didn't. Riku just smiled and rolled out of bed. "Where are you going?"

"To fix _it_ myself."

"Fix what?" Then Riku shot Sora a glance, a short and obvious glance. Feeling a tad guilty, Sora spoke up just as Riku walked in the bathroom, "I'll do it!" From inside the bathroom, right as the door shut, Riku answered.

"No you won't. You say that now, but you won't." Sighing when the door finally shut completely, Sora plopped onto the pillow. He got a shot of dizziness just as he fell.

"Woah, I don't feel so good." He closed his eyes, letting his head settle into the soft pillow. Feeling a draft, Sora quickly shot up to grab the blanket at the end of the bed, but before he did that, he sat there a second, letting himself regain sight. With a groan, this time he slowly fell back into the bed, covered by the blanket. Sora didn't remember falling asleep, but when he woke up only about an hour later, he noticed that Riku was lying next to him, snuggling to his side. Sora turned closer to him, only to feel disgusted and jerked up. The sudden rush of cold air and movement seemed to awaken Riku, who just squinted his eyes together to see what was going on.

"Sora?" then without warning… "Oh god Sora! You _did not_ just throw up!"

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Reviews, I say! I'll bake a chocolate cake for anyone who reviews, and you can ask our chemistry teacher... I make good chocolate cake :D


	16. This Isn't a Liquor Store

Sorry we took forever to post this one too. Senior year's not as easy as everyone makes it out to be...

Anyway.  
We thought this was a funny chapter :) Axel and Roxas time! :D

Disclaimer: Not ours.

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Motionless stood the molecules of the air. Soundless, the fragments of space whispered. Eternal silence in the stillness of the atmosphere surrounding the room, although nothing could stay so ideal forever; which was proving itself true when a small simple movement not known to make noise started up. It couldn't help but make a small buzz as the millions of tiny feathers pushed themselves on top of it, creating an almost solid surface. This, of course, emphasized the slight buzz to a dome like horn, echoing underneath the feathers. There laid long strands of silver threads of hair, sliding backwards behind the pale lacy fingers that started to pull them back to where they were supposed to lay. These fingers then moved under that soft feather surface to the electronic buzz that had disrupted the mornings quiet ecstasy that the pale figure was once enjoying. Not even bothering to look at the glowing screen, he flipped the phone open and placed an end at his ear.

"Hello?" Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he noted to the other as he started to talk incredibly loud through the speaker. Mumbling a noise occasionally through the phone to indicate that yes, he was still there… whether or not he was listening on the other hand was a very different story. He attempted to lift his heavy eyes that screamed for that quiet stillness to return, to fall back down on the feathered pillow, and cuddle back next to his personal heater, who luckily didn't even feel the buzz of the phone. How lucky it was… How _incredibly_ lucky it was… How unbelievably _jealous_ it made Riku. That he, who was sleeping next to him, hadn't awaken while just earlier that morning it was _him_ who kept the pale figure up longer, and now it was _him_ who got to sleep in. It just seemed a bit unfair, yet he tried his best to slide out of bed without disturbing the other. It was a difficult task due to the fact that Sora was hugging Riku tightly to his chest, but the fact that Sora was dead asleep made it easier for Riku to weasel his way out.

"Listen Axel, that's great. I'm proud of you for going to the meetings, but what was it that you're calling for? I know for a fact that at 9 am, the meeting isn't over." Riku lifted his brow, awaiting an answer to his question while walking over to the bathroom. "You left for a bathroom break? HAHA and called me? What are you in, 9th grade?" Scratching his head, Riku turned around to look at the little brunette lying dead as doornail on the bed, sleeping cuter than anything he'd seen. "Hate to sound like your instructor, but consistency really will help, like continuing to go to those meetings." He leaned his body against the door frame, allowing a small grin to crack his face while listening to the person on the phone. "Oh you think you can handle that now?"

_"Yessss, I can Riku. Please tell me when I get out today. I swear I'm ready. I kept my part of the deal and I guess I'll keep coming afterwards too… maybe."_

"Enduring them afterwards would no longer be in my hands."

_"Riku."_

"I'm just saying that would be up to Roxas, but if you _want_ my opinion, you probably will continue. You really hurt his feelings."

_"I got that… just tell me where to find him."_

"Alright, but all I know is where he works."

_"That's better than nothing."_

"Okay, but can I ask you something too?"

_"Yeah man, what's up?"_

"Let's just say I may have done something really bad last night, and I'm kinda hoping the alcohol will erase the memory of it." Finally turning around, Riku started to close the bathroom door, "And by erase, I mean erasing Sora's memory… who I might have let drink."

_"Drink how much exactly?"_

"Enough to get horny… and puke…" The door shut, locking the conversation inside the bathroom, unable to be heard in the room where two bright little blue eyes now blinked furiously at the space where Riku's body once stood.

Tick, tock, tick, tock. A pair of bright green eyes slowly watched the second hand creep its way around the face of the clock. 'God damn… it's only 11:30. Riku won't be here for another half hour…' In the background, Axel could hear the instructor going on and on about how they only had one life to live and how they shouldn't drink it away. 'This is just like when I watched _Supersize Me_ back in high school… all I wanted was a cheeseburger… only now it's a drink.' With his head thrown back over the top of the chair and his arms hanging by his side, he scanned the room, hoping to find some sort of entertainment. When none was found, he resorted to counting the freckles on the arm of the fat lady next to him. 'Holy shit, could this chick's arm have any more god damn freckles? I know it's a lot of surface area, but still! Ughh, I'm so fucking bored… I'm coming high next time. Then this wouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't need to find entertainment. I bet everything would be _fucking hilarious_. Time would probably fly by. I wonder if anyone would notice. Ahh, what time is it now? It's gotta be at least… 11:32? You've _got_ to be shitting me. Yeah, definitely coming high next time. I wonder if they test for that shit. It's not like this is narcotics anonymous… Is weed a narcotic? Heroin is. Maybe I should shoot that up… _not again_. That shit fucked me up. I think that's the only thing I'll only ever try once. Oh, note to self… don't let Roxy know that. Speaking of which, where IS he? Stupid chick ass, he's only like what, 17? How many fucking places can he go. High school. Home. Shower to jerk off… Mmmm, good mental images.'

"Axel! What do you think about your situation? Any comments?"

"Hmm? Oh, uhh… I can see things more clearly now. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and at night I can see the stars again… now that it's not… hazy… due to uhh, alcohol… and shit."

"Axel, jokes and sarcasm are to be left at the door. What did I warn you about at the first class?"

"Yes, I remember. You actually repeat it every class."

"Which I shouldn't have to. Do I warn anybody else more than once? No. Axel, I feel like I'm just not reaching you. I think we should have a personal one-on-one session together in my office after this class. Can you stay late?"

"Not that that's not on my top 5 list of fantasy fucks, I've got people to do and things to see."

"AXEL! The saying is '_things_ to do, _people_ to see'."

"I know. I'm just letting you know what I'm doing later."

"Welll class, I think that's enough for today. You're dismissed. Axel, next class, like I've said _so_ many times before… jokes and sarcasm are to be left. at. the. door. Do you understand me, _Axel_!?" With a wave of his hand over his shoulder, Axel swung open the door and left the room, snickering to himself. 'Works every time. Teacher needs a backbone. I feel like I'm in high school again.' Looking over his shoulder one last time, he saw a short girl with black hair running after him.

"Axel! Wait up! I thought what you said about the stars was so deep."

"Oh yeah man, I meant it from the bottom of my heart."

"I could tell, I was so inspired by it, it almost had me in tears. It reminded me so much of my own life. We have so much in common."

"You're right, God must be sending us a message. Let's call the priest right now."

"Axel, hehe, I mean that's so sudden! I would love to get to know you better though."

"… No."

"But Axel, I thought you said-"

"No."

"But we bonded!"

"You're right. We have a connection so deep now, I can tell that whenever my heart beats, yours is right there beating in rhythm with it."

"Really!?"

"No." Turning away, he started to walk when he heard another voice calling his name, thankfully this time, it was the one he was waiting for.

"Axel. You ready?" Riku was leaning against a car, smoking a cigarette.

"Riku? Since when in fuck's sake do you smoke?"

"Don't ask questions." Chuckling, Riku shook his head, unable to keep up with his _badass persona_. "Just get in the car. Trust me." Wiggling his eyebrows, Axel got the biggest grin on his face Riku had seen in awhile.

"Ohh, you taking me to see Roxy!? Well what the hell are you waiting for! Stop your lolly gagging and let's fucking go!"

"Axel, I don't remember you being this much of a potty mouth."

"It fills the void." Looking desperately back at the YMCA where the AA meeting was being held, it was now his turn to shake his head. He wiped away fake tears before grinning and jumping over to the passenger side of the car and buckling in. It didn't take long before Riku started to slow the car and pull into a parking spot. Looking around at the all too familiar area, Axel's smile cringed and transformed into more of a look of disgust. "Why the hell are we over here at fucking Chili's? You know that Roxy _doesn't_ work here anymore, right?"

"Yes, I'm not retarded."

"Then why the fuck are we here?!"

"Chill the fuck out man, he works right there." Riku lifted his hand, pointing to the building parallel to them where a green sign said Starbucks.

"Oh…" A slight blush almost creeped onto Axel's face as he noticed his impatience towards Riku. "So, what now?"

"Well I'm gonna go home and check on my baby blue. See if he's still sleeping or sick or I don't know, throwing up… again. I'm kinda hoping he's hung over."

"Why?"

"Cause he's my baby blue and technically I get paid to look after him."

"No stupid, why do you want him hung over?" Smirking, Riku looked at the ground before giving Axel a look, a look that he was unsure of what exactly it meant.

"Well, one, Sora's adorable all needy, two, I'll get to shower him in kisses without feeling like a phedo… and he threw up in my bed last night. Pay backs a bitch."

"I don't know which one of those reasons is worse." Opening his car door and sliding a leg in, Riku looked up a Axel one last time before completely going inside.

"I don't really think you're in a position to say that, eh Axel?" Riku lifted a brow and closed his door then began to drive away. Axel hadn't moved his feet as he watched his friend drive off then murmuring to himself 'heh, guess not'. He then looked both ways on the street like a good little boy before taking a large step off the curb onto the road and started his stride toward destiny.

Inside the green building, there was a bustle of people from ordering their drinks and a few already standing, waiting. Some customers chose their seats comfortably by a table or in an arm chair. Either way, the place was active and there, at the cash register, stood a petit looking blonde. He seemed to be a bit frustrated, yelling out orders to another barista making the drinks, when a man with a scruffly bread and a suit walked up.

"Hi welcome to Starbucks, would-"

"I'll have a triple venti six pump vanilla latté with whole milk and no whip." With a slight twitch and wide eyes, Roxas blinked a few times and held his sharpie to the cup once again.

"Uh, can you…" Roxas then turned his head slightly to the right to examine behind the customer, "repeat… that… again." Suddenly, Roxas' eyes widened with realization. Not only had he noticed a familiar face, but one with red hair causing him to drop the cup in his hand to the floor and then, consequently, follow it from leaning too far. The barista standing next to him and the customer both leaned over to examine if the boy was alright.

"Uhh, did you get that kid?" In hearing that, the barista suddenly looked at the man nodding.

"I got it, it's $6.25." She finished the transaction and began to make the drink while the man walked away, but behind him a tall red haired guy with blazing green eyes stepped up to the register, just as another worker came out of the back.

"ROXAS! What are you doing on the floor?" This worker obviously had more standing than the barista and Roxas combined by the way he acted.

"Uhh… There's my contact!" Roxas had his butt in the air and a hand on the floor that he flung up excitedly while at the same time having a face of fear. Afterwards, he stood up quickly and held his pointer finger to his eye like it had something on it, in fact it probably did, just not something good for his eye, but he reached forward and poked his eye anyway. Watering, his eye started to twitch and turn a few shades red. Roxas couldn't help himself then but to keep that eye slightly shut at the moment. The other worker, who was obviously their boss, then gave Roxas a face of disbelief and turned around to continue his previous actives. "What do you want? You know this is a _coffee_ shop not a liquor store." Though unexpectedly the boss who was believed to be gone jumped backward into sight and gave Roxas a stern look.

"Roxas! Is that any way to greet a customer!"

"Uh… No Frank, sorry sir…" Roxas held his hand to his head in salute formation.

"That's right son, just like the good old days back in Viet-NAM, but that's a story for another day. NOW GET BACK TO WORK! And remember, the money is always right."

"Uhh… yes sir. Welcome to Starbucks, may I recommend you try our seasonal pumpkin spice latté?" Roxas responded to his boss, then with his most monotone voice turned to the red head, giving him the _proper_ Starbucks welcome. Still snickering to himself, Axel took a few moments to regain his composure and face the blonde.

"May I recommend _your _latté, heh?… Too soon okay, no worries, Axel understands, but I must say your boss is, well, quite a character." Roxas' face didn't even crack as he swung his arms across his chest, frowning at the seriousness of the situation.

"I'll have you know Frank is a highly respected man of society as well as a retired military officer who can't get enough of helping others in his country and within his job. He has guns in his office, which I think might be illegal… and loaded." Looking very amused, Axel just squished his lips together to prevent a total break out into laughter. "I'm serious, now what do you want?"

"ROXAS!" Frank's harsh voice bellowed out. Roxas glanced over with pouted lips with a prissy glare.

"… Sir… Stupid coffee Nazi."

"I heard that!"

"I meant that with the utmost respect and in the best possible way, sir." A rough, hearty laugh which could be mistaken for a cough compounded the air around Roxas and Axel as Frank walked over holding his belly.

"Oh, Roxas!" He stated almost in tears. "You keep me young," he said wiping a tear from under his wrinkled eye. At this point, Axel couldn't stand it anymore as he slapped his palms on the counter, doubled over in laughter. Giving him a stern glare, Roxas crossed his arms once more, daring Axel to keep laughing. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Frank walking away, muttering something under his breath about the good 'ol days and Vietnam women. Axel finally got his laughter under control, straightening himself out and for once listening to his instructor and leaving all jokes and sarcasm at the door.

"So are you here to loiter or are you actually going to buy something?"

"Roxas."

"Or did you come here purely to embaress me in front of my co-workers?"

"Roxas." It was obvious that Axel was steadily growing more and more impatient.

"Oh, so you got your _serious_ face on now? What? You finally grew up? Or are you here to suck my cock and forget about it again because that'd be pretty fucking cool too, _Axel_!"

"That's beside the point! Yes I do have my serious face on _Roxas_, and I suggest you put yours on too because I came here to have a serious conversation with you." Axel's tone of voice was something Roxas knew not to mess with, all playfulness gone. Leaning forward, he put his elbows on the counter and cradled his head in his hands. After a long sigh, he looked up at Axel with an exhausted face.

"Axel… What do you want?" Axel couldn't help but sympathize as he saw the look of hurt in Roxas' eyes. He let a small smile grace his lips as he jerked his head to the side, indicating for Roxas to follow him to a table outside. Once they were seated, Axel made sure Roxas was looking him straight in the eyes before continuing.

"I came here to apologize."

"How did you even find me?"

"Don't worry about it, the fact is that I'm here now and it took some damn hard work to get here, so I'm not gonna let you go without hearing me out."

"Okay. So you're apologizing now. Why now? Why not a couple months ago when I wasn't around? Huh? Why when I suddenly showed up at your place is it that you think 'Hey, maybe I should try to get Roxas back'?"

"Because I was drunk off my ass, passed out on my couch! Dropping off the face of the Earth makes it kind of hard to find a person, Roxas. I looked for you for months when this all happened last year. You're a damn hard person to track, you know that? No one would tell me. _No one_."

"Drunk off your ass? Yeah, you were trying real hard to find me. How were those parties Axel? Find any new hook ups?"

"No! It wasn't that kind of drunk! I was indulging myself because of you! Because I couldn't find you!"

"Because of me? Really? Drowning your sorrows in your drug of choice… because of me? Doesn't sound too sad to me, Axel. Work on your argument then come and find me because I don't have time to listen to this."

"No Roxas! You're not understanding me! You're not understanding what I'm saying! There were no parties or hook ups. There was me, my apartment… my very dirty apartment, and my many bottles of booze. I didn't see anyone for months."

"I'm not gonna pity you, so don't try to play that card."

"I don't want you to pity me, I just want you to listen to me! I want you to know the truth."

"Whatever."

"Fucking damnit Roxas! You sure can hold a fucking grudge!"

"Oh, I can hold a grudge? You think this is a grudge? This isn't a grudge, I just don't want to be associated with people who are purposely hurting themselves."

"I'm not purposely hurting myself!"

"From the people I've asked and talked to, I've heard enough."

"Talked to? Who did you talk to?"

"From all the parties and the excess drinking and drugs. Don't get me wrong, they all said they were great parties, but not a single person could ever remember seeing you sober or even if you ever were. Not a single one Axel. That's not healthy."

"I was sober occasionally! Most of those people only came over for the parties anyway. What would they know?"

"That's not the point Axel, the point is that you shouldn't be doing this to yourself! You shouldn't be indulging yourself in alcohol every night, so much so that you can't even remember who you've been with and you shouldn't be with that many people anyway! That's not good for your health or your mental capacity!" Roxas' eyes started to water as he continued on with his rampage. "That kind of lifestyle will stick with you the rest of your life if you keep it up! Being with a different woman every night and drinking yourself to sleep until it's okay and cheating on your wife without it being a big deal and getting fired from your job because you can't stay awake at the machines and one of your co-workers got hurt! You could get seriously sick and die from the cirrhosis of the liver and leave your whole family behind. Your wife and your son! And they won't have anything because you destroyed their whole lifestyle by being an alcoholic and used all the money booze and, and…" Leaning his head into his hands, Roxas began to sob, trying to cover it up but failing.

"Roxas," Axel reached out and put his hand on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly, "this isn't about me anymore is it? Because I don't have a wife… or a son… hopefully."

"Axel, I just can't deal with this. I just can't have another alcoholic in my life. I can't go through that again. And if you care as much as you say you do, you'd understand and leave."

"Roxas, if I understood that much then I _wouldn't _leave. And besides, I'm already a proud member of Alcoholics Anonymous! Been to a few meetings already. Riku wouldn't tell me where you were unless I went." Roxas' head shot up at hearing this and he narrowed his eyes.

"Riku…"

"Ohh, uhh, let's pretend I never said that."

"Axel. I'm being completely serious."

"So am I, I really did go. You have no idea how painful that was… 'Look in your inner self and find self awareness. You're life should not be drank away, blah, blah, blah'," Axel stated in a mocking tone. He grabbed both of Roxas' shoulders and shook them, changing his face back into one of complete desperation. "You don't understand chickass, they're KILLING me!"

"… What did you just call me?"

"But don't worry. I will survive."

"No seriously, what did you just call me?"

"Chickass? Don't worry, it's a compliment."

"How is chickass a compliment? Are you comparing me to a chicken? Because I know I have kind of skinny legs but that's just mean to point it out."

"Now that you mention it, they did look a little skinny when I was down there."

"Take it back!" Roxas swatted Axel's hands off his shoulders, resorting to a pout which drew a laugh out of Axel. They both relaxed and leaned back in their chairs, simply looking at each other. Both of them enjoyed the silence. It was a comfortable silence, like after a storm when everything had finally calmed down. No more violent outbursts. Roxas broke the silence when he let out a long sigh of content, finally relieved that the emotional roller coaster had finally come to an end. Smiling at Roxas, Axel stood up and pulled him out of his chair and dragged him into a tight hug. Burying his face in Roxas' hair, he took in a deep breath, relishing in the fact that he, Axel, was actually making mutual, physical, _sober_ contact with Roxas. Dipping his head down, Axel kissed the tip of Roxas' nose before nuzzling it into an Eskimo kiss.

"I won't make you deal with that. Because I'm not that kind of person. Not anymore. Not ever again." Roxas let one last tear roll down his cheek before a smile took over his face and he nodded in approval.

"Not that this hasn't been really, really touching… I really have to go back to work. Frank likes me, but not that much. And I suspect he's not afraid to use those guns I told you about."

--

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW :) Alesia's birthday is coming up ;-)


	17. Long Time Coming

We have no excuse.

Disclaimer: KH is not ours.

To a slightly older reader: thank you for your review! We actually took most of it into consideration when writing this chapter, but I just thought we would set a few things straight. In our eyes, Riku is the typical, fucked up college kid. He's the one that likes to party and get mixed up in business that could get him in big trouble. While this may seem like a pretty big tragic flaw, his even bigger one is his lack of ability to realize this until the deed is done. He drinks, he drives and drinks, he doesn't take the fact that Sora can't drink into consideration, and in all honesty, you're right. He's not nice. He's self-centered and confused but honestly has feelings for a 13 year old boy (which is a big no-no, which he also realizes… too late). Riku and Sora do _not_ have sex. Riku pushes him into accepting a hand job even though he knows Sora's not ready for this. He listens to the alcohol and thinks with the wrong head. Once again, he realizes the mistake he made… when it's too late. He'll grow out of it eventually (so much character depth, I know). As for Riku always hurting Sora, you hurt the ones you love the most. I can agree with that 100% and it's just more drama-rama added into the story for our amusement. You are absolutely correct when you say we're going for humorous, because fuck, we think we're the funniest people we know (which is probably not true… /cries). BUT! Thank you for your kind parting words and in honor of you, we swear to never hold chapters hostage again. Scouts honor :D

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The white bag crumpled from a fold, to more of a slightly distinctive handle looking mess. Riku's fingers started to cramp from holding the bag, so he switched hands, but not before trying to refold the bag, which should have been abandoned. The more he attempted to straighten the bag, the more crumbled it got like a nervous tick, he couldn't just _hold_ the bag. Was he somewhat nervous or excited? No matter what the reason was, the bag just slowly became a version of soft, reused construction paper, once lost at the back of the craft drawer and found last minute for a procrastinated project. Riku swung the front door open then quickly slammed it shut behind him as he stumbled his way to the kitchen, noticing a little brunette already sitting at the table now staring at him.

"Hey kiddo!"

"Riku."

"What you doing up?" Finally reaching the table, Riku dropped the bag onto the top of the table about 3 feet from where Sora was sitting as Riku started to organize himself. "I thought you'd still be asleep."

"Well I'm awake. Why would I still be sleeping, anyway? You know I don't sleep in." Sora's eyes found it difficult to focus on Riku for they kept wandering over to the white, crumbled bag on the table. It really had its better days… you know, in plastic, on a store shelf. The poor thing looked like Riku went swimming with it then dried it in the men's bathroom with an automatic dryer and carried it home the rest of the way, air drying.

"Huh? Oh, I don't know because of yesterday." Riku stated in a very hushed voice but once his eyes quickly reached the table, his spirits shot right back up. "I bought you breakfast! In that bag, I got you donuts. I just got donut holes 'cause they're pretty generic." Cricking a brow, Sora couldn't help but smile, but then averted his eyes down to a now empty cereal bowl. He grabbed his spoon and swirled the milk, before looking back at Riku.

"I already ate," he stated, pushing his cereal bowl forward out of his area on the table.

"Oh… well, do you want any donuts, anyway?"

"No, not really. You're welcome to eat all you like though, don't let the lack of my presence stop you." Sora stood up and walked to the main entrance to the kitchen, but before leaving, he turned back around. "Just don't eat too much Riku. It would go _right_ to _your _thighs." He was about to turn around and continue his parade out, but Riku stopped him with a question.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I don't understand, nothing's wrong with me."

"You're acting odd."

"Why would I be acting _odd_? Do I have a reason to be?"

"I don't know, I thought because of yesterday or-"

"What's with your obsession with yesterday? We went to the beach, that's it. I _thought_ we had fun."

"We did!"

"Then why are you acting weird and questioning me?"

"I… I don't know." Riku's gaze started to slowly fade downwards. His eyes were intensely focused on the carpet tile change below him distracting him from Sora's hurtful words. Riku was aghast that Sora, _his Sora_, was being so, so cruel.

"Not that I don't _love_ hearing about your personal problems Riku, I'm going out." Turning his back towards Riku, he made his way out of the kitchen, stopping when he was questioned, yet again.

"… Where you going?"

"To the movies. With Selphie."

"I thought you didn't like Selphie?"

"Now, I never said that." Sora didn't even turn his head as he spoke those words. He was already dressed and ready to have fun or at least that was how he was making it out to be.

"When will you be back?" Riku muttered all too softly for Sora to hear, because he didn't even stop moving as he closed the door behind him leaving Riku there … alone.

A small grin appeared on soft red colored lips as the click of heels just as red made their way down the hallway to the kitchen. The woman flipped her long hair behind her shoulder and placed a hand onto Riku's. Speaking very hush, as she made sure to add a certain malice tone to her voice.

"Hello dear."

"Shirin…"

"Oh my…it's Mrs. Devane to you." Suddenly looking up Riku caught a glimpse at the deceptive glare that was being aimed so directly at him. "We need to have a little chat, and considering the scene I just saw I'm afraid that I've timed this ever so perfectly." She twirled the ends of her hair ending her statement with that callous grin of hers that she just had the most fun displaying to him.

--

"I can't believe it ended like that! I'll never be able to look at myself in the mirror again… and that's a damn shame." Sora scratched the back of his head in the manner that he always did when something confused him. He turned his head slightly to watch the other person he was walking with expression to the movie.

"I know right? I'm thinking about taking out all my mirrors," the brown haired girl said, smiling and shutting her eyes in a tight blink.

"Ha, if you ever had your eyes open long enough to see. And besides, they could still get you through your door knob," Sora joked nudging her arm.

"Shut up I tried my best!"

"Hey, here's my house, I'll catch you later, okay?" Sora said pointing his thumb behind him.

"Yeah! See you at school!" she shouted to Sora who had already started running up the steps of his house, waving his arm in the air behind him. When he reached the door, he carefully unlocked it then rushed inside, throwing his stuff onto the coach. The house had an oddly familiar air about it. One he knew but couldn't recognize, not now at least. He looked around him, noticing lights off and blinds shut. In fact, the house looked a little dark.

"Hello?" Sora shouted in a joking ,manner, expecting to hear a voice in return or a laugh, but when his call went unanswered he started to worry. Walking around the whole downstairs and peeking his head into certain rooms that would normally, and still were, unoccupied, Sora searched. He searched for some sort of life, someone, anyone in the house. "RIKU!?" Sora was now shouting at every corner. He dashed himself upstairs, shouting the whole way up. "RIKU! WHERE ARE YOU?!" When he finally made it to Riku's room, he huffed out a sigh while catching his breath at the same. He saw the yellow luminescent light creeping from under the door and assumed that Riku _must_ be hiding in there, but why? 'Silly Riku, why aren't you answering?' Sora thought. 'Maybe he had his music on loud?' Sora reached to pull the door open and swung it nice and hard, but his eyes didn't reach that of Riku's. All he saw was an empty room. In fact, it was completely empty; the empty it was before Riku moved in. All his stuff was gone and there was nothing of his for Sora to see. Just a bed made properly. "… R… Ri-ku?" He was gone.

That next morning, Sora woke up feeling stiff, very stiff. He rubbed his eyes looking around him to notice that he'd fallen asleep in Riku's room, and as he feared it looked exactly the same. Riku never came home last night. Sora pulled out his cell phone when he noticed it was about to die. He had no missed calls, no texts, and no voicemails waiting for him. Sora opened his address book and scrolled down to the 'R's and there was Riku's name and number. Sora ran his finger over the call button debating whether or not to call and eventually closed his eyes and pressed it. It barley even rang before Sora was listening to Riku's voice mail. A little distraught, he pulled the phone away from his head and hung up. Looking at his phone again he gave it another try only for the same thing to happen in a shorter time span. Was Riku forwarding his calls? After a few other tries, he gave up and pulled up the text screen, typing in his message.

_Riku I waited for you last night. _

_I got kinda concerned when u didn't come back. Where r u??? _

_ur not partying r u? I hope u didn't get super wasted and_

_hook up with someone… call me asap!_

Feeling like he at least made his message clear, Sora got up from bed and got dressed. Looking at the time, he grabbed phone charger, he made his way downstairs, all the while constantly looking at his phone for it to say "New Message Received". He plugged his phone in on the kitchen table and looked at his dad's office, noticing the lights on and the doors wide open. Furrowing his brow, Sora walked over to door to see his mom quickly shuffling through drawer after drawer in the desk, rummaging through every sheet of paper.

"Mom?" With a jerk, Sora's mother looked up dropping what she was holding, but once she noticed it was only Sora standing there, she quickly went back to her search.

"What?"

"Uhh… do you know where Riku is?" Lifting one of her brows, she stopped in her actions to slowly lift her head to face him, muttering in an all too familiar and malicious voice.

"We let him go."

"WHAT!?"

"_We. Let. Him. Go._ You know, fired him." She averted her eyes back to the stack of papers she was literally throwing as she examined them. "Obviously you're much too old for a _nanny _or _caretaker_ or whatever it was he was claiming to be these days. You don't need him. Besides, we were just wasting our money if you weren't even going to pretend to need one." All too flustered to even put his emotions into words, Sora just looked at his mother who continued on with her shuffling and shouted at her.

"What are you even doing looking through dad's desk?!" Now ready for a fight after his recent discovery, both Sora and his mother were surprised when a new voice entered in the conversation.

"Yes… _dear._ What _are_ you doing looking through my desk?" Sora then turned his head to see his dad leaning up against the doorframe, eyebrow raised. At that same moment, Sora's mother dropped everything once again, only to look up with a completely different expression on her face. It was filled with anguish. Then placing a not too convincing smile on her face, she giggled.

"OH! Ha-ha, you know just looking for a pen." Sora watched as his dad's brow raised higher on his forehead before waiting for his answer.

"Oh? One to sign the divorce papers with?"

--

Sora looked down at his phone, still expecting a text to show up. It had now successfully been a couple of months since he had last seen Riku, but honestly, that was least of the worries he'd had to deal with. His parents went through a nasty divorce, starting with the first day he didn't have Riku, which ironically began a series of events in which he needed him the most. His mother was kicked out of the house that evening and apparently his dad had been planning most of the divorce already. He just was waiting for the right moment to bring it up. Sora felt for his dad, he always seemed to have a stronger bond with him, so he just stepped back and let his dad take care of things the way he planned they should be. Why complain about his minuscule issues to his dad when he was basically having the same thing happen to him, on a much bigger scale? And that was only the beginning of the things in his life that were starting to break. As detailed in the divorce papers that his dad made with his lawyers, Sora's mother was left with nothing. She received a small fee to get her started in finding an apartment and job, but the estate, the savings, and the cars were all under his name and paid by him, from his job. She tried pulling the marriage card on him about them being equal and she even tried claiming he never loved her and faked the whole marriage from the start. She didn't stop there; she even tried claiming that she, being the mother figure, had the right to Sora, which brought about a hard custody battle as well. Sora's dad had another card up his sleeve though: hard proof of many years of adultery. Not just random people though, but every single caretaker Sora ever had, except that last one, of course. Interviews and signatures to prove it, in all there were over 19 caretakers claiming victims to Mrs. Devane's forceful seduction. His dad said it could have caused serious physiological issues to their son and feared what kind of environment she would put him in. Then like the cherry on top of a huge sundae, Sora dropped his phone into one of the many lawyers' offices toilet. He was only there visiting and consequently lost all his contacts, including Riku's. He had his same number, just a new phone and most of his old contacts, except Riku's. He just couldn't bring himself to ask his dad what it was or even if his dad, throughout this whole ordeal, would still have it. Riku was the only caretaker useless to his dad's case, after all. What if Riku never got that text he sent that night? Now he couldn't resend it. His concern and fear forever lost in the space-time continuum that was cell phones.

Other than, that Sora's life slowly picked up piece by piece. His dad won both the divorce and custody case and his business was booming. Sora had a social life and friends; he went to movies, attended school, and hung out at the mall, but still he felt a little alone. Even surrounded by a sea of people at the mall he felt completely isolated.

One certain evening when Sora had just said farewell to his friends and was walking aimlessly around the mall before he felt the need to call his dad to come get him, he just looked at the people around him. Shoppers, other groups of friends, employees, and couples around him, all of which he was judging on their appearances. 'He'll cheat on her.' 'They waste tons of money every paycheck.' 'Oh, where cool! Chilling at the mall when we're 9 and 10.'

"WOW! You're a fucking failure. You are absolutely going nowhere in life." Just when Sora was about to move on, a giant smiling head thrusted around as fast as it could without falling off to face Sora and responded.

"What'd you say?" Taken off guard, Sora blinked and started at the strange, large, smiling mascot. "I said, what did you say?" By this point Sora realized that he really did say it aloud and cocked a brow, repeating his thoughts.

"You. Are. A. Failure. At. Life."

"Who the hell do you think you are shrimp?" the mascot said, placing a hand on its hip.

"I'M NOT A SHRIMP!" The figure then placed its hand on top of Sora's head.

"Sure you're not, kiddo." An all too familiar word resonated through Sora's ears, one that once was repeated over and over to him, a sweet nickname Sora never actually noticed how much he missed until it rang through his ear once more. He couldn't help himself as his vision started to blur. He must be crying now. No, he knew he was. He could feel the heat seeping from his eyes at the slightest memory of Riku making his response muffled and hard to hear.

"Don't call me that."

"Whoa, hey kid." The mascot took off its head, revealing in return a bushel of bright red hair, as he bent over to come face to face with the now troubled boy. "I wasn't trying to make you cry." Sora brought his hands up to wipe his eyes when he noticed the bright red hair. This guy… he looked familiar.

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After all this time... would it be too much to still ask for some reviews..? :D


	18. Is it Really You?

OKAY, I KNOW YOU ALL WANT TO KILL ME AND THAT THIS IS LIKE TWO YEARS TOO LATE BUT I HAVE AN EXCUSE. Kind of.

Once college began, things fell apart and time needed to be focused on academics (I say this as I prepare to enter my junior year at college... Easy Money was created before high school was finished... DON'T KILL ME!)

This is the final chapter and it is nice and dericious and I hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters. You know the drill.

* * *

"Just stop crying! What do you want from me!" Holding his hands over his ears, it was all he could do to _attempt_ to drown out the sobs of a brunette tween. 'Jesus Christ, does he ever stop?' Looking left and right, he finally shook his head in defeat when he realized no worried parent was looking for their lost child. "Listen, kid, if you stop crying… I'll buy you lunch. I get off soon, this failure at life can buy you an ice cream cone with his minimum wage paycheck. You're like what, 9? You like ice cream and shit, right?" With that last sentence, all sobs ceased as red rimmed blue eyes looked up.

"I'm 13. _Thir-teen_. Not 9, jerk," Sora hissed out, wiping his eyes.

"Fine, jeez. I didn't know 13 year olds didn't like ice cream. You want a beer or something, big man?" Sniffling to himself, Sora turned his head, trying to regain his posture quickly before anyone else saw.

"Don't even get me started. But I do accept cheeseburgers…" Smiling slyly, Sora grabbed the redheads hand and dragged him towards the food court.

"Wait!" the taller of the two cried whilst being dragged away from his place of employment. "I still have to clock out!" From behind him, he could hear his manager murmur something about clocking him out 10 minutes ago and trying to save money. Pulling Sora towards him and causing him to stop, he sighed before running a hand through long, red hair. "Fine. Just let me change and get my shit… Nobody wants a mascot suit in exchange for food around here. Trust me, I've tried." After 15 long minutes, both boys were seated at a table, food in front of them.

"So Axel." Upon hearing his name leave the brunette's mouth, Axel's eyes squinted in suspicion.

"… Have you been following me?" By now, Sora had the beginning of a cheeseburger stuffed in his mouth and a straw from his soda hanging out the left corner.

"No," he somehow managed to mumble out. "Uiev meht chu befow, remembuw? Wif Weeku." Quickly, Axel pulled his phone out and hid it just out of Sora's view to text. _Riku, I'm at the mall with a crazy stalker that claims they know me through you._ Without much waiting, a reply of _"Who?"_ was received.

"Uhh… What's your name again, kid?"

"Slorua." _Uhh… Laura? Is that someone you slept with? Name sound familiar?_ Riku's response of _"No, are you sure it's not someone you slept with?"_ caused Axel to look up and examine the subject before him. _Definitely someone YOU slept with._ Looking up briefly and watching Sora again for a moment, he sent another text. _You sick bitch. _Placing his phone down and picking at his own burger, he eyed Sora with a curious look. "So… how do I know you again?"

"I met you! We got lunch, remember?" A big grin was plastered across his face and Axel just couldn't bring himself to turn it upside down. Shaking his head in agreement with a quick "uh-huh" he went back to his nibbling. Not long after that, he received another text from Riku. "_Listen man, I really don't know. Bring them by the house or something, I could probably put a name to a face." _Cringing at the thought of how Riku could really know this kid, he shook his head at his phone. _I don't know if I can do that._ A response of _"And why not?"_ met Axel's phone less than a minute later. Practically slapping himself in the face, he leaned forward towards Sora. "Hey, kid. You're parents coming to get you anytime soon?" Sora stopped mid slurp and gave Axel a look of bewilderment before slowly shaking his head no and continuing his slurping. _Alright…_Axel texted back, _I guess I'll bring 'em by…You sick bitch._ Just when he thought the conversation died, he received _"Why do you keep calling me that?"_ Not responding to Riku's text message, he thought to himself 'You're the one that knows Laura. You tell me.' Axel then glanced up at the boy in front of him, who by now was finished eating. "You said you knew Riku, right?" Sora shook his head vigorously.

"Yes! I haven't seen him in soo long!"

"Right… Wanna see him?"

"DOES HE WORK AT THE MALL TOO?" Lifting his head, Sora leaned forward and shot Axel a wide-eyed smile. His big blue orbs seemed to make Axel feel a little uncomfortable. It was as if his blues were seeing straight into him, and it made him start to squirm in his seat. Just there looking into the brunette's eyes he saw something, and if he could compare it to anything it'd be closer to a feeling, maybe one when he's with Roxas or when you received a surprise gift from a long time friend. It was just that nice feeling, yes nice. That is what it was and it made every hair stand on end, and that's when it hit him. A friend. A _small _friend. A _very small_ friend. A _very small_ friend with a _sexy _babysitter. A _very small_ friend with a _very sexy pedophilic _babysitter… Well, old babysitter now. A babysitter who happened to be his best friend. 'If this is what Riku saw then I can't disagree.' Still shifting Axel opened his mouth to respond when Sora blurted out again. "I hope you say no, 'cause if I find out he's a mascot like you I'd be embarrassed for him. I mean he's beyond that."

"Damn kid, what the hell did I ever do to you?"

"Nothing…" Sora shrugged his brows a bit in confusion to why the red head would ask such a question. "Why'd you ask that?"

"Don't worry about it, and _no_ he doesn't." Still a little perplexed Sora just sucked up the last of his soda when he noticed the red head standing up. "I'll do you a favor kid."

"You know just 'cause I'm younger than you doesn't make me a kid Axel." Sora pouted placing a hand on his hip after standing as well, only to receive a short laugh from Axel.

"Ha-ha, fine whatever. Are you in?" he asked dumping both trays of food in the trash can then turning to face Sora once again.

"Uh, am I in?" Sora asked, giving a crooked smile while scratching the back of his head at the same time. Just giving a devious smile in response, Axel grabbed Sora's small arm and began dragging him toward the mall exit.

"That's what she said! Come on! … She said that too, hehe" Axel stood a moment and laughed at his joke before starting back up again pulling Sora out the door. "I'm serious, let's skedaddle."

A skip and a leap past a very awkward car ride landed the two boys in front of an apartment complex. Not a shabby cheap one, but a decent one. Once the redhead typed the pass code in, he drove his car forward and took some more uncoordinated twists and turns till they finally parked. Stepping out, Sora took a moment to examine the place. It had trees in strategic places and a nice outside appearance. The architect did a nice job.

"Hey, come on this way!" Axel yelled waving an arm in the air while starting to step up a staircase, which put Sora's feet into action as he ran right behind him almost close enough to bump him. They climbed up to the second floor where there were two doors and a window for each on the inside of the balcony. On the right, the door had a nice semi-circle sign hanging with a bold 'WELCOME' carved into it, as well as a small outside carpet at the foot of the door right next to some small potted plant. It was plain black, causing Sora to assume it was an 'I'm here for your dirt' carpet and that's all. You couldn't see in the window, for it had one of those side window curtains that fit ever so perfectly. The door on the right, however, did not have a welcome sign or carpet or even a plant. It did however have a curtain that looked like it was ripped on one side though, and right where a perfectly good welcome carpet could be, Axel's feet stood and where that beautiful, homely welcome sign could sit, Axel's head leaned forward. His hand was jiggling the door handle wrestling with a key.

"…Should have guessed…" Sora stated slightly under his breath but still provoked an answer form the occupied redhead.

"What?"

"Nothing. You got it? I mean it's just a key?"

"Uhhhhhhhh… stupid key…" Then a click was heard. "Yep, come on in." They both headed for the door. Inside at first glance was a bit messy but actually quit bearable at the same time. Once Sora's eyes started to really look around the room was when he saw him.

* * *

A hand reached for the lighter sitting on the table and brought it up to his pipe to light the pile of leaves in a bowl held right up to the mouth. As soon as the flame hit the pile, a red burn started to crumble the leaves as the person inhaled deeply. Throwing the lighter back on the table, the other hand holding the pipe slowly brought it away from the mouth. Seconds later, a cream colored smoke released itself from soft pale lips filling the air and hovering right in front of his lips, only to be quickly sucked back in again. A pale, barely there smoke was the next thing that escaped, followed by a series of coughs.

"Hello!" Axel stated to the head that was titled back enjoying the scene of smoke above him. "I've brought Laura." Sora stepped into the room so the door behind him could be closed, and as he moved, he took the liberty to correct Axel.

"It's _Sora,_ not _Laura_ Ax-el." Without even turning to face the brunette, Axel's face twitched, staring straight at the other man.

"Is that _MINE_?"

"SORA?" Riku's coughing only worsened upon examining the small brunette standing in the doorway looking directly back at him. His eyes had widened so much he had to constantly blink to keep refreshing his eyes in hopes that it would help his brain register what he was looking so intently at. Axel did a double take from Riku's questioned face back to Sora, who looked out of place and a tad uncomfortable.

"Well…" Axel started, "I knew it was someone that _you_ had relations with _Riku~_" Riku then turned his focus to Axel.

"This is Sora… I, I used to baby-sit him… remember the uh… easy money." At that moment Axel only smiled in return.

"I know." Then he turned around with a quickly and pushed Sora inside completely while he twisted himself out the door yelling before slamming the door closed, "Peace!"

* * *

"Well… this is… a surprise!" Riku managed to stammer out. The high he was getting from the pot he just smoked was _not_ doing well to help him in this situation.

"I'd be surprised too if I just WALKED OUT OF SOMEONES LIFE COMPLETELY AND NEVER TALKED TO THEM AGAIN AND HAD THEM SHOW UP ON MY DOORSTEP RANDOMLY ONE DAY… JERK." Sora took it upon himself to make a comfortable spot for him on the couch. Crossing his arms across his chest, he allowed a pout to form on his lips. Glancing over at Riku and seeing his eyes on him, he hastily looked away again, determined not to maintain eye contact.

"Soo let me get this straight Sora. You ran into Axel at the mall, came here to see me, and now that we're finally together again, you're ignoring me? A little contradictive, don'tcha think?" The smirk growing on Riku's face as he tried to lighten the mood was not missed by Sora. Slowly, he allowed Riku to scoot closer and closer to his side of the couch. When his lips were against Sora's ears, whispering how sorry he was, the smell of smoke coming from his breath was greatly outnumbered by the chills it made roll down Sora's leg. "You know I missed you," he whispered gently. "I never wanted to leave…"

"I know…" Sora began whispering back, "I just don't understand why you couldn't call?" His voice was wavering now, posing more of a question than a response.

Seeing the hurt in Sora's eyes as his questioned Riku, he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into a hug. "There was just lots of complications, Sor. You're mom made it very clear I wasn't welcome to contact you and to be honest… our situation… our relationship… it's not exactly, you know, something many people would speak too highly of. I could have gotten in a lot of trouble with more than just you and your mom." As he listened, Sora's anger began to subside. He felt dumb. He never considered their age difference to be _that_ kind of a problem. He turned to look Riku in the eye, and seeing the desire for a response of any kind, leaned forward and kissed him.

It was light and slow and unexpected. Sora's hand cupped the side of Riku's face as he continued pressing his lips against the others. Riku's eyes, which at first were widened in surprise, slowly closed as his shoved his fingers through Sora's mass of hair and attempted to deepen the kiss. His tongue slowly began poking Sora's lips until they were granted entrance and it wasn't long after that that Riku had Sora laying flat on his back, shirt off and panting. Trailing kiss after kiss from his lips down his neck, down his chest, and down even lower to the waistline of his pants, Riku made his way back up to Sora's neck. Sora, who was moaning all the while, couldn't help but reach for Riku's shirt as well, only feeling it as fair that both of them were half naked. The passion and desire that Riku was emanating was obvious and without asking, he took it upon himself to undo and lower Sora's pants.

"No," Sora stated bluntly, catching Riku's hands with his own. "This time, _I'm _going to make _you_ happy." With that simple sentence, Sora wriggled his way out from under Riku and made his way on top of the elder, all the while shimmying Riku's pants down to his ankles. It was only a matter of time before Riku was the one moaning as Sora took him all into his mouth, not even hesitating at the size or the idea like he had once before. After a surprisingly short time, Sora had Riku begging for more. The way his lips wrapped so perfectly around his member and the way Sora's face was covered in an innocent blush was almost too much to handle. Grabbing Sora by the nape of the neck, he pulled him into a deep kiss, not even giving him a second to breath. Pulling away, Riku looked Sora in the eyes. With the slightest nod of the head that was almost nonexistent, Riku swapped their positions for the second time, and lowered himself onto Sora. Looking around for something that could be used to ease the younger ones pain, Riku's eyes landed upon a bottle of lotion. After properly distributing the lotion in his fingers, he went to work on preparing the small brunette for what was the come. After some minutes of discomfort, Sora nodded his head to Riku who then used the lotion on his own member and slowly began pushing himself into Sora.

"Uhhnngg," Sora whimpered in response to the intrusion, but Riku quickly began kissing him all over his while he quietly grabbed Sora's penis in his hand and began thrusting his hand up and down in unison with his body. Soon, Sora's whimpers turned into mews of pleasure.

"I love you, I love you, ohh I love you," Sora whispered into Riku's ear. As soon as they were spoken, Riku and Sora's bodies clenched up as they finished almost in unison. Riku gently pulled out of Sora and ran to the kitchen to grab some towels to wipe themselves up with.

Once they were all clean, Riku grabbed Sora and hugged him to his chest so tight it's surprising Sora could still breath.

"I love you, I love you, I love you too Sora, so much. And Sora, if you're going to be getting into this much trouble, leaving the mall with random strangers and having sex with men you haven't seen in months, then I think I'm going to have to stick around for a while to keep an eye on you."

Sora scoffed at the remark and laughed. "Oh, you mean like a babysitter?"

* * *

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR TIME, REVIEWS, FAVORITES, ETC ETC ETC :)

It has been a joy writing this story with co-author Alesia and I hope she finds this a suitable ending!


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